Through the Eyes of the Past
by tragicmagic13
Summary: This is a story about five friends. It's a story of true friendships, special bonds between the oddest of people, & drama. Are things always as they seem? You start read from the beginning & we'll take u to the very end. By: Aluminiumaniac and Pomegranite
1. Eila Clough

**Chapter One – Eila Evendora Clough**

Eila was an empty little soul. She was born somewhere in Ireland. Her parents abandoned her her when she was only two. She had been a foster child for nine years, moved from house to house almost every month, until she was shipped off to London, England, where she was put in an orphanage run by Mrs. Cole. By that time in her life, she was broken, limb-to-limb, on the inside. She had no friends and no family. All she had, was a small, plump, siamese cat that called Gigi. That cat was her best friend. She just sat in the corner of her room, and read books that she found to Gigi.

One unusually cold, summer day, a man with an exceptionaly long beard, rapped on the doorway of the orphanage. He wore a very bright set of navy blue robes with a matching hat. Mrs. Cole raised her eyebrows and invited him to sit down by her desk. She asked, "Who might you be, sir?"

"I am the headmaster of a boarding school called Hogwarts. My name is Albus Dumbledore. You do remember me, don't you?"

"Ah, yes. You are the fellow who came and took that…what was his name?"

"Riddle. Tom Riddle."

"Yes, yes. That Riddle boy to your…err….school."

"That is correct."

"And which one of the runts…I mean children…are you going to take now?" she asked, in a rude manor.

Dumbledore replied kindly, "Eila Evendora Clough. I believe that she is eleven?"  
"Yes, she is. She has caused many problems here. Weird problems, like…like…levitating. She's a freak. You can have her."

"Thank you, ma'am." Replied Dumbledore, ignoring Mrs. Cole's rudeness, "I'd like to speak to Miss Clough privatly, if you don't mind."

"Yes…well…here she is…" said Mrs. Cole, opening a wooden door from her office. The door led to a large room with mismatched furniture in it. Eila was sitting on a strangley colored orange couch that had a lot of its stuffing coming out of it. Her cat was sitting on her lap while Eila read aloud a large book called _The Tales of Beedle and Bard._ On the end table next to the couch was a large pile of classic novels such as Charles Dickenson. Eila had brilliantly green eyes and long black hair that was tied into a ponytail. She had many unleveled bangs hanging covering her eyes. Her skin was a sortof golden-honey brown. Sort of oliveish. Dumbledore smiled politley as he sat down next to Eila. Eila marked her place in the book and looked up at Dumbledore and asked curiosuly, "Who are you? Nice hat."

"Thank you. My name is Albus Dumbledore."

"Are you planning to take me home?" she asked hopefully.

"No, but I am here to take you to a place where I guarentee that you belong."

Eila smiled hearteningly.

"Has anything…_strange_ happened? Something that you couldn't explain?"

"Well…I did make Gigi float and hit the ceiling once. And I made this one kid turn bright purple. I'm not sure how, but it was kind of cool…sir." She replied quietly.

"Excellent. Pack your things and we'll be off soon. I have another trip to make. I will explain on the way." Eila jumped out of her seat, and grabbed her battered trunk. She had all of her belonging in it, but she oepened it and tried her best to stuff the pile of books in it. She followed Dumbledore outside the door, dragging her trunk and a cat cage(obviously with a Gigi in it).


	2. The Black Family

Chapter Two – The Black Family 

Dumbledore walked down the empty streets at Grimmauld Place, counting down the houses. After he reached between eleven and thirteen, he took out what looked like a lighter and clicked it five times, putting out the street lights with each click. He handed a slip of parchment to Eila, "Memorize this, and follow me."

Eila examimed the parer carefully "The Black's house- number twelve Grimmauld Place?" She paused and looked at the houses number eleven and number thirteen. "Sir, I hope you don't find it rude, but there is no number twelve."

Dumbledore chuckled slightly at this comment as he went up the sidewalk between the other two houses, and lo and behold, number twelve seemed to have squeezed its way between 11 and 13. Dumbledore smiled pleasantly as he reminded her, "This is the house of an ancient family, the Black family. And we are here to give two kids their overdue letters, it seems like my owls can't see their house. Their names are Rana and Sirius. And also, you will be staying with them for the rest of the holidays, so just think of them as your family from now on."

Dumbledore knocked at the door softly five times, then six, then three, and the door creeked open eerily as he walked in, giving his hat and cloak to the house-elf. Mrs. Black walked into the hallway to see who it was. she was surprised to see Dumbledore at the doorstep. She was old, but still had a graceful sence of pride in her eyes. She had black hair tied up in a neat, old-fashioned bun, she walked up to him, greeted both of them pleasantly and sent Eila to her room to unpack. The house elf led her up through the long hallway, where a long line of house-elves' heads were up on the wall. They proceeded up a staircase, down the hall, and finally stopped the third door from the end. The house elf (whose name is Kreacher) knocked on the door and opened it quietly and turned to Eila "This is where you will be staying." Kreacher then turned into the darkness and called out. "This is Miss Eila, she will be staying with us for the remainder of the holliday."

There was no reply but an eerie silence between them. Kreacher mumbled insults to himself as he decended the stairs. After the door was shut, she preceded into the half-lit room. Then a strange voice echoed from a dark corner of the room "You are going to hit the bed."

Eila kept walking, and three seconds later, she stubbed her toes on the bedpost, Eila bit her lip in pain as she put her trunk down on the bed. After a while, after she had packed, she returned, "Who is this? I'd like to know who I'm staying with."

"I'm no one of importance. Just ignore me."

"Can I turn on the light."

"No."

"What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem. I'm just a useless squib."

"You're not a squid."

"Squib, not squid."

"What's a squib?"

"A person with a magical family, but can't perform magic."

"You're not a squib. Dumbledore is here to see you."

"Sure…"

"I'm serious. He's down stairs."

"Fine then, only if you'll stop asking question."

"Err…okay…"


	3. Getting Acquainted

Daniel Radcliffe looking scrumptious like cheesecake! And look, CHEST HAIR!!

Chapter Three – Getting Acquainted 

Rana walked downstairs and approached the kitchen where she saw Dumbledore. She was shocked. Dumbledore smiled and handed her a letter. She opened it. It was from Hogwarts. She sat down in the nearest chair, and sat in her unusual way, her knees up to her chest. She read the letter and smiled evilly at it. She quickly jumped out of her seat and bowed thankfully and went to go get her brother. Eila heard her yell upstairs, "SIRIUS! GET YOUR STUPID BUTT DOWN HERE! MOM'S GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU!"

Eila heard a door open and then shut loudly. She saw a cute eleven-year-old boy come downstairs. He winked at her. She raised her eyebrow. Dumbledore handed him an identical letter for which he had given Rana. Sirius read the letter and yelped, "Woo Hoo!"

The two siblings ran upstairs to Rana's room. Eila sat down on a squishy chair immediately as Gigi jumped up onto her lap. She started to pet the cat lovingly. A few hours later, Sirius walked downstairs for dinner, to find Eila sitting on the chair, Gigi still in her lap, but strangely enough, the cat was being read to the rest of_The Tales of Beedle and Bard_. He asked, "Why are you reading to your cat? She doesn't understand a word you're saying."

"She likes being read to." replied Eila in a hushed voiced.

"Well anyways, dinners ready. Kreacher made steak-and-kidney pie! Hurry up, before Dad eats in all." Eila nodded and placed the sleeping cat onto the squishy sofa and followed Sirius. She quietly sat down on a chair and quietly ate her dinner and quietly disappeared into Rana's room as the others celebrated their family members not being squibs.

After they all finished celebrating, the siblings met in Rana's room. The room was very dark. Rana said, "Why is it so dark in here?" She flipped on the light which revealed bright emerald green and brick walls covered with moving band posters. Eila was startled. Eila yelped, "Argh! They're moving!"

"Oh, yeah, so they are." replied Rana in a carefree tone.

"I'm sorry; I'm not used to this…magic…stuff."

"Yeah, well you'll get used to it." Said Rana as she picked up her sunburst guitar and started picking the strings, playing a nice melody.

Sirius sat down next to Eila on another squishy chair and asked, "What house do you want to be in?"

"House?"

"Yeah. Don't you know? There four houses that you can get sorted into. Slytherin, the pure-bloods, Ravenclaw, the smart…people, Gryffindor, the courageous, and Hufflepuff, the extras. I wanna in Gryffindor."

Eila looked cluelessly at him and replied, "I guess Gryffindor sounds nice. So does Ravenclaw."

Just then, Rana broke into song, "_For instance, Slytherin took only pure-blood wizards of great cunning just like him. And only those of sharpest mind were taught by Ravenclaw. For the bravest and the boldest, went to daring Gryffindor. Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest, and taught them all she knew. Thus the houses and their founders, pertained friendship firm and true._ Our whole family has been in Slytherin, ever since the middle-ages."

Sirius replied, "Well, _not_ anymore."

"How can you say that? It's in your blood to be in Slytherin."

"That's stupid. Red stuff in your veins doesn't determine my house."

"Blood means genealogy, you idiot."

"So? Who cares? I don't be in Slytherin."

"You don't have a choice; it was etched into your soul ever since you multiplied into two cells in Mom's stomach."

Sirius looked disgusted, "If I'm in Slytherin, kill me."

"Much obliged." She said jokingly. The two suddenly broke out into laughter. Eila tilted her head in confusion, blinked, and turned back to her book.

After the merry laughter, Rana looked at Eila and asked, "Who exactly are you? I don't think I've ever seen your family before."

"Dumbledore said that my parents were pure-bloods. He said my father was Irish and my mum was Indian."

"Interesting…" said Rana, lifting her heels onto the chair and biting her thumb in thought, "So basically, you don't quite know who your parents are; you just know what your name means because your parents abandoned you when you were small?"

Eila tilted her head again and nodded. Sirius plopped himself onto Eila's bed and asked, "So…what's your favorite kind of motorcycle?"

Eila shrugged and said, "A…red one? Those loud ones are cool."

Sirius replied, smirking, "Yeah…they are."


	4. Diagon Alley

**Chapter Four - Diagon Alley**

A few weeks had passed, and the siblings had gotten to know Eila very well, as well as her to them. Eila was not so surprised at every picture that she saw.

Rana was grabbing a piece of toast from her toaster as she held on to the corner with her teeth. She was holding some parchment in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other. She read the supplies list over and over again, trying to memorize it. Just then, a fat black and white cat, who was rubbing against her legs meowed feircly.

Rana smiled as put down her juice and picked up the cat, "Are you hungry, boy, come on lets eat!"

She walked up to the cupboard and pulled out a can of cat food, opened it and put it into a silver inlaid bowl. Mrs. Black walked into the kitchen. Rana dumped the food into Sox's bowl and turned around. Mrs. Black asked, "Is everybody ready?"

Rana replied softly, "No, Sirius is still in bed, Eila's talking to her cat, Dad's still shaving, and it doesn't matter because it's six 'o clock in the freaking morning, and no body's going to want to leave that early."

Mrs. Black opened her mouth to say something, but Rana cut in, "Including you, Mom." Mrs. Black shut her mouth, scowled at Rana, and marched hastily upstairs. Rana smirked with satisfaction.

Atleast two hours later, everybody was ready to go. Everybody was wearing dark colored robes, except for Eila. Eila was wearing a bright blue muggle-jacket over a white shirt with black pants. Sirius, Rana, Regulas, Mr. Black, and Mrs. Black stared at her. She asked, "What?"

Rana said, "Come on. You can borrow my robe." She opened her trunk, that was sitting behind her, and handed Eila a black slip-on robe. Eila put it on akwardly, with everyone watching her, and sat on her trunk.

Mrs. Black said, "Let us get started if we want to get to Diagon Alley on time."

Eila blinked and stared blankly at her, "Diagonally? Why would we want to go diagonally?"

"No, no, no! Not diagonally, Diagon Alley."

"…and where is this…Dygon Alley?"

"You kids will be using side-along apparation to get there. Rana, Sirius, you go with Dad, Regulas, Eila, you come with me." Everybody walked to their adult and gripped their arms. Eila looked confused, but she did as she was told, dragging her trunk behind her. Mrs. Black disapaperated first. It was most unpleasant to Eila. It was like being forced through a small tube of toothpaste with no air for a breif seconnd. They appeared in the Leaky Culdron. Eila was gasping for breath as the others arrived as well. Rana asked, "Couldn't we have walked, I mean it's only like five blocks away."

Mrs. Black smiled ficklely at Rana and walked over to the wall. She tapped it in some special combination with her want as it begant to open. Eila tilted her head in amazement as a whole new world opened behind this wall. It was flooded with witches and wizards walking merrily along the streets. Mr. Black said to the younger kids, "Come on, let's go buy your wands."

Eila said, "But I don't have any money."

"Oh, yes. Oh, yes, my dear. Technicalities. To Gringotts!" He said as he pointed ambitiously towards Gringotts, the wizarding bank.

Once they arrived at the bank, Eila walked up to one of the sour goblins manning the desks. She asked nervously, "Err…I'de like to access my bank account…if I have one. I think my parents do."

"Do you have your key?"

"…Err…no…."

"Very well then, what is your last name?" he asked, pulling out a huge black binder.

"…Clough…"

He flipped feircly through the binder, repeating "Clough" over and over again. He finally said, "Ah, yes. Clough. What is your mother and father's name?"

Eila looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to remember something. She said, "Err…my mother's name is Vanita Clough and my father's name is Beircheart Clough."

"Ah, yes…I'de like to take DNA sample. Just to make sure."

"Uhh…okay…" she said, pulling out a strand of her hair and handing it to the goblin. The goblin went into a backroom for about five minutes, and came back with a key. He said, "Follow me." Eila looked at Rana with confusion. Rana nodded and continued her in-depth convorsation about muggle-safety with her Dad.

About twenty-five minutes later, Eila walked behind the goblin, holding a, what looked like, two pound sack of Galleons.

Rana smirked and said, "You don't need that much money, but oh well. We'll get quite a bit from the trolley."

"What's that?"

"I'll tell you back at the Leaky Cauldron." She said, following her Dad outside of the door.


	5. Olivander's Wand Shop

Chaper Five - Olivander's Wand Shop 

Rana had explained everything about Hogwart's Express, magic, and wand-use to Eila that night. The next morning, they went down to Olivander's Shop. Sirius walked up to the desk, where Olivander was not, instead, was restocking wands, and said, "Hey! We're here to buy wands!" This scared Olivander out of half of his wits, he droped five wand boxes and turned to Sirius after he carefully restocked them. He said, "Ah…Hello. You must be young Sirius Black. Sirius nodded and looked around "So…how do I choose my wand?"

Olivander cachinnated to himself, "Well, Young Master Sirius, you do not choose the wand, the wand chooses you, it has to be compatible to your inner nature. Here, try this one, Elm wood and dragon heartstring, 11 and three-quarters of an inch, give this one a try."

Sirius flicked the wand, but nothing happened. He tried several wands, but one, a dark cherry with hippogriff talon of 11.5 inches was the one. After Sirius had received his wand. Rana walked up to the desk confidently, giving a casual smirk at the rows and rows of wands. Olivander looked at her for a long time. "Ah. I have the perfect wand for you, Holly and veela hair." Olivander said as he took out the wand from its case and handed it to Rana.

Rana looked at it doubtfully as she picked up the wand and gave it a long swishing flick. The wand gave a loud _crack_ as it heated up to enormous temperatures. She dropped it on the desk and stepped back fearfully. "No, that's not the right one," she joked cheerfully as he handed her another wand.

"Hawthorn and hippogriff tail hair, a very versatile wand."

After a few failed attempts of finding a wand, one of the wands knocked down one of the shelves scattering thousands of wands. Rana apologized sincerely as she went behind the desk to help clean up. Funnily enough, the last box had an old, dusty case. It had strange engravements on the shaft of the wand. The wand was beautifully flexible but firm. Rana gave the last box to Olivander and got back in front of the counter. He looked at the dusty case and gave it to Rana.

Just then, once Rana touched the engraved wand (which had a chimera, a snake-headed winged lion on the handle end) the wand shot red and green sparks into the air. She smiled as she gently put it back into the case.

"Interesting, Hawthorn, and runespoor fang, of ten and a half inches, not the most common combination you see. But I do believe that my fourth great grandfather gave Phineas Nigellus Black, your great great great great great great grandfather its twin. What you hold there is family history."

Mr. Black smiled proudly at his daughter in approval. She smiled back as she lifted the wand from its box as Eila went up to the desk. She leaned on the desk and said, "_Soo…_"

"Here you go Miss…"

"…Clough." She said.

"Miss Clough, alrighty then. Try this one, " said Olivander, handing her a wand, "It's 10 inches, Yew and Hippogriff Talon." She took the wand nervously and whacked it feircly at a chair. The chair exploded violently. Olivander quickly took the wand back. Eila went through many, many wands before she found hers.

Olivander said, "Okay…maybe this one is it. 13.5 inches Chimaera Scale core, Birch wood. It's a fine wand, it is." Eila took the long, white wand. She examined it. It had rose-vines carved into it. It was beautiful. She flicked it in the air as gold sparks erupted from the end. She smiled and paid for her wand delightfuly

They all returned to the Leaky Cauldron, accompanied by Mr. Black after buying the remaining supplied from their lists. Eila was flipping through her one of her new magic books. She was testing out spells. So far, she had turned an old spoon into a cocroach. She yelped at the bug and smashed it. She said the counter-curse and the flattened cocroach turned into a broken spoon. Rana yelled, "You're not suppose to use magic outside of school, stupid! Didn't I tell you that?"

"No…" replied Eila, truthfully. 

"Well…now you know."

"…'Kay."

I Promise that the story will get more interesting as the years proggress. It's really going to start getting interesting in the third and above year. But the first and second year is, nevertheless, very interesting if I may say myself. But please write reviews for my story so I know how well you guys like it. Thanks!


	6. King's Cross Station

Chapter Six – King's Cross Station 

Mr. Black was leading the group to platform 9¾ dragging Sirius and Rana behind him. Eila was quietly pushing her trolley behind them all. They reached platform 9. Eila raised her eyebrow, "How can there be a platform _9¾_? All I see is 9 and 10."

Rana replied in a smart-aclecy way, "Oh, comeon! You can't be that stupid? It's obviously between platforms 9 and 10."

"But, all I see is that wall…oh, no! You're not going to make me run at the wall?"

Sirius smirked and said, "You're not going to hit it. You're just gonna go _right_ through." He made a hand movement, emphasizing the word 'through'.

"That doesn't make sense."

Sirius replied, as he ran at the wall, "Well, magic doesn't have to make sense." Rana nodded as she too ran at the wall and disappeared right through it.

Eila was the last to go. She said to herself, "I'm going to regret this." She apphrehensively ran at the wall, expecting to hit it. But to her bewilderment, she ran right through it, just like Sirius said. She saw a great steam engine train before her and a sign hanging from the ceiling reading, "_Platform 9¾._" She gasped in awe. It was amazing.

Eila followed Rana and Sirius to a compartment. They all sat inside of a compartment on the far side of the train. There were two other people in that compartment. One of them had messy black hair, brown eyes, a rather white face, and small, circular glasses. He was rather cute. The other boy was a sort of 'nerdy' boy. He had neat, brown hair, dark blue eyes, and he was quite skinny. Rana sat next to the nerdy boy and said, "Hi! My name is Rana Aries Black."

He looked over at her and replied confindently, "My name is Remus John Lupin."

"You have a really cute name." She replied bluntly.

"Err…thanks. You…too."

"Thanks! What house do want to be in?"

"Gryffindor, I guess."

"What about you?" asked Rana, turning to James.

"Yeah, me too. My name is James Potter, by the way."

"That's a weird name."

"…Well, your're name sucks too."

"I know!" replied Rana, smiling, "My name means _Frog_. I mean, I'm nothing like a bloody frog. I would say that I am…more foxish."

The two boys stared at her blankly. There was then a dreadfully random change in topic, from which Eila and Sirius joined into the conversation. To be exact, it was about the gross yellow stuff that comes out your eyes when you wake up in the morning. After a while, a short boy with beedy, watery eyes walked into the compartment and introduced himself as _Peter Pettigrew_. Sirius said to him, "Yo. I'm Sirius Black, and this is my sister, Rana Black. This is Eila Clough, this is James Potter, and last but not least, this is Remus Lupin."

"You all have strange names." replied Peter as he sat down next to Sirius.

Rana spat vicously, "Well, we could say the same about you…Petttigrew." Just then, everything became pitch black.

Lupin looked out the window,to see nothing but blackness, and asked, "What happened?"

Rana replied, "Maybe it broke down."

Eila whispered darkly, "Maybe the _Earth stopped spinning._" Everyone tried their best to stare at her(because it was pitch black) as if she were some sort of lunatic.

A dark figure walked in front of that particular compartment and reached for the door handle. He slid the door open and said, "Have you guys seen a pink chapstick?"

The group of first years screamed. Just then, the train emerged through a tunnel. A friendly acne-fillied face was uncovered. He said, "That was a tunnel, by the way. And my name is Aurther Weasley. Have you guy's seen my Molly's chapstick? She lost it."

"Who's Molly?" replied Rana.

"Oh…it's just my friend.."

"…_Right_." Said Rana, doubtfully.

"I guess not. Well, I'll be on my way." He said as he walked to the next to compartment. The group looked at one another and burst into mad laughter. Sirius put his hand up, palm forward, to shush the group. He dug into the pockets of his robes and pulled out a shiny, pink silver tube of…you guessed it…chapstick. The group, once again, exploded into laughter. Rana stopped laughing and said, "Why didn't you give it to him? That was mean."

"…Well…it was funny."

"How would you like it if someone stole your underwear?"

"What if someone stole_ yours_?"

"Why would someone steel—" Rana saw Sirius digging into his pocket again, "Sirius, you're gross. And that's not mine, it's Eila's."

Eila shreiked madly and grabbed it from him. She climbed onto her seat and opened her trunk and put the pantie back inside. She shut the trunk and opened the next one. She took out a set of purple tidu-widies and threw it at James's head.

Sirius looked around nervously, as everyone laughed, and said, "I-It's not mine."

Eila smirked and replied, "Oh, yeah? Is that why it says _Sirius Black_ across the back in froofy pink letters?"

"I didn't buy them! Mom bought them for me, okay? Gosh!" he said crossing his arms childishly.

The train then screeched to a halt.

Please write reviews!!


	7. The School of Witchcraft & Wizardry

Chapter Seven – The School of Witchcraft & Wizardry 

Remus looked outside of the window. The night-sky engulfed all of the station.

He said, "This must be _Hogsmede_."

Rana looked out at the historical background "Yeah and there is the castle, it looks so much bigger in person."

The train screeched to a halt as a tall guy with a shiny badge started yelling "First years follow me! First years!"

Eila stood up and went behind the boy, and tugged his sleeve shyly "Uhh…who are you?"

The boy looked at her merrily, "I am Percival I. Gorke, head Hufflepuff boy. Follow me, and keep me and your friends close so you don't get lost."

Eila motioned towards the group as they got up and stepped off the train, where all the first years were met by the groundskeeper (Hagrid is actually the same age as them at this point) who silently lead them to the boats. Rana looked at the water untrustingly, "I sense death in these waters." She said eerily as she stepped into the boat.

Sirius looked at his sister and laughed "You're not afraid are you?"

Rana looked at him and smiled confidently, somewhat madly "No, not at all, I just saw your demise in here, that's it."

Sirius shuddered and also took a step onto the boat. Eila also followed and remarked "Wow! That is a big castle! Will we be living in that?"

Rana sat back against the prow of the boat "No, that is where you will be dieing; the goblins love to feed on flesh. 'Tis a great honor, in the wizarding world."

Eila gulped loudly as she clutched the side-port of the boat. "Really? Is that why they sent us here?"

"Of course, why else would they pick you, a nobody at an unknown orphanage, and me, an over-confident idiot brandishing a twig, nobody knows us, and it would be easier just to wipe us all away. Every one here is just merely rejects of society, unable to function as a part of it and the government feels as if we should not be able to integrate with the others." Rana returned, trying to keep a straight, serious face, until she finally broke into laughter.

Eila started laughing as she punched Rana on the shoulder.

As they landed on the high shores of the black lake, with its over looming walls of endless torrent like a restless sea. Rana looked back at the distant horizon.

"_The moon rises full today,_

_The wolves come out to play. _

_Just as I, in responsibility must tell him,_

_To beware this monthly phase."_

Eila looked at her friend strangely "Rana, are you okay? You don't seem your normal self."

Rana looked back and courtly replied "Yeah, this place is more eerie than I imagined though. Like a very sad story is being held here, one of restless pain and anguish, the dead cannot sleep here."

Eila shook her head and followed the rest into the castle. Rana remained there until James, peter, and Lupin got off the boats. Rana walked briskly beside Lupin and whispered quietly "Where are you going to change, wolf of the full moon, your master rises full this evening."

Lupin looked at Rana, and then at the setting sun, how did she figure out his secret, and why did she tell him? "_I must not let her shake me, I have more important things to do, calm down Remus, you will be sorted and out the door in time. Thankfully, this is a cloudy night, and I won't see the moon until after this dreadful rain._"

James called out over the rain mockingly "Hey Remus, You got yourself a girlfriend already?"

Remus snapped out of his trance and replied "No, of course not, she would never consider me her boyfriend, nor I my girlfriend, its just mutual tolerance, if you will."

James laughed again, "Well your_ mutual tolerance _might just turn into something more, if you know what I mean."

"James," Remus smiled, "You know me, and I would never let my studies hindered by a girl I don't know. I-I'm not the romantic type."

"Suurrrreee." James chanted, while circling around Remus "Remmy's got a little crush on his mate's sister, Remmy's got a crush on Rana! Remmy and Rana sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Hey Remus, do you want some R&R?"

Lupin looked at James "R&R? What does that mean, dare I ask?"

James giggled as he blurted "Remus and Rana!"

Remus looked at him reproachfully "You're so immature, James."

James, now rolling in stitches said "Yeah, I know."

After the long, dreadful, rainy hike into the castle, they were met by a grand entranceway, with a grand staircase, that was rather thick, and branched off into two hallways. There was a single door, right in front of the staircase. A wide door that had four symbols on it. A snake, a lion, an eagle, and a badger. The doorframe had a huge "H" in the middle of the top, as well as two great pillars on the side. They went up the grand staircase. Then the door opened, and a tall witch with a long, beaklike nose, huge, round glasses and a kind look appeared out of it.

She looked at the student and announced "Welcome, all of you, to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. Soon, you will enter through these doors to get sorted into your respective houses. Then you will join your classmates for the beginning-of- term feast."

Eila looked exited and eager as she looked at the old woman. After an old man announced them (Eila knew it was Dumbledore.) they walked through the middle of the great hall, which was lined with four tables with a row of tapestries above each. Each tapestry had one of the four animals on the door and a motto that read _Dormiens Draco Nunquam Titillandus._

Eila looked up at the ceiling, where it portrayed the disgusting weather. She put up her hood in anticipation of rain, but nothing happened. She blushed and put down her hood.

They stopped in front of a musty old hat that suddenly burst into a song. After the song, Professor McGonagall called out names in alphabetical order.

"Rana Aries Black!" Professor McGonagall called out into the crowd of first years. Rana stepped out of the crowd and looked at the hat, sat down on the stool after McGonagall had raised it and placed it on Rana's head.

The sorting hat paused for a little bit

"Hmmm…Another Black, eh? Such conflict in your head, my dear. Your heart longs for one thing, but your head for another. Rather bold I see, but a very smart intellect. You have quite a possibility in Ravenclaw, but yet, your bloodline says you are in slytherin. But also, you have a lot of bravery and courage..."

Rana sighed "Must we do this psycho-analysis? It's kind of weirding me out, no offence."

The hat smiled (to the best a talking hat can do) "Alright, and none taken. GRYFFINDOR!"

Rana got up as the Gryffindors cheered as she sat down with a wide space in between them. She looked over at the slytherin table, where her cousins were. Bellatrix (the oldest, older than Sirius by five years) gave her a nasty look, as if she was going to kill Rana. The one in the middle was Andromeda, who actually liked Rana and Sirius merely smiled at her approvingly (she was three years older than Sirius). The other and youngest of the three was Narcissa, (Older by one year) who merely shuddered fearfully and looked away.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and announced "Sirius Orion Black!"

Sirius walked to the stool, and as soon as the hat touched his head it said "Gryffindor!"

Once again the Gryffindor table cheered, once again

"Eila Evendora Clough."said McGonagoll, looking off her clipboard. Eila shakily walked up to the stool and sat down as McGonagoll placed the old hat onto her head. It said, "Hmm, your mind brilliant, your blood pure, but your heart brave…Where, oh, where will you go?" The hat thought for a moment and finally yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table clapped as Eila walked to the table.

"Severous Snape!" McGonagall called. Severous walked up to her and sat on the stool. The hat immediatley yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Lucious Malfoy!" she called. Lucious, like the others, sat on the stool and was sorted into Slytherin.

"Joanna Wutherwood." McGonagall called and she got sorted into Hufflepuff.

The rest were followed by other unimportant characters, which are so unimportant that will most likley never be seen again. Most of these were in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

These were followed by the rest of the future marauders (James, Remus, and Peter), they were sorted in Gryffindor and sat near Rana and Eila. Before the Beginning-of-the-Year feast, Dumbledore had some announcements to make: "Welcome, new students, and welcome back, old students. I have some announcements to make before you become befuddled in your meals. Quiddich try-outs will be held on Saturday at the Quiddich pitch. Gryffindor's will be from 1 'o Clock until thirty mintutes after two, followed by Ravenclaw right after, then Slytherin, then Hufflepuff. The Deuling team practice session for 2nd years and above will be held on Saturday, in the Dueling Hall from 3 'o Clock to 6 'o Clock. There will be more practice sessions for the next month every Tuesday, Thurday, Friday, and Saturday from thirty mintues after five unto 7 'o Clock. Also, Speed Flying try-outs will be held next Wedensday after classes in the Quiddich pitch. Thank you very much for listening, you may eat! " Dumbledore waved his large hands in the air as the delicous-looking food appeared onto each house table.

Rana asked her group of friends as she swallowed a large piece of chicken, "Are you guys going to try out for the Dueling team next year?"

"No, I think I'm going to go for the Quiddich team." Said James, shoveling food into his mouth.

Sirius replied, "I don't know. They both sound cool. What about you Eila?"

Eila shrugged, looking at her plate.

Sirius blinked and looked at Lupin, "How about you, Remus?"

Lupin said, "I think dueling sounds fun. I'm going to try-out next year."

The dinner was all delicous. The kids all walked back to their dormitory with great difficulty since they had eaten so much food, it was quite hard to move. They all picked their rooms: Eila, Rana, and a girl named Molly Prewett shared rooms. Sirius, James, Lupin, and Peter all shared the largest room in the boys' dormitory.

They all talked about many things for the next few hours, then finally fell asleep.

See? I promised it would get interesting! Just wait and see, you'll love it!


	8. Professor Benjamin Hiltraud

Okey, As this is the standard disclaimer message, Pomegranite and Aluminiumaniac do not, in any way own most of the characters in this story (exept for Rana Aries Black and Eila Evandora Clough) All characters are copyright of J.K Rowling and WB media.

As is standard we always love feedback about our writing and constructive critisizm.

Now, weve had some good feedback (thanks to fastwalker) and we can either

1. skip to Year four, when interesting drama happens

or 2. we could continue with the track we are travelling on

review to tell us what we should do ;p

Thankee vawey mush,

Aluminiumaniac and Pomegranite

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Chapter Eight - Professer Benjamin Hiltraud

Eila woke early that morning, only to find that it was five o'clock in the morning.

"_Darn. It's so early; I guess I'm just exited for my first wizarding lesson."_ Eila thought to herself as she slipped on a pair of jeans. After she was dressed, she went to the common room and sat there for an hour, when Rana awoke and sat with her on the couch, still in her owl-printed pajama pants and a white tank top. She sat down drowsily as she stared in the space "yur' wearing the wrong clothes, Eila. Ya nee' ta wear the un'form."

Eila looked at her jeans and black t-shirt. "And where, may I ask is this uniform?"

Rana sighed heavily as she got up off the couch and handed Eila a plastic-wrapped sweater vest, two shirts (one short-sleeved, one long-sleeved.), a skirt, a pair of pants, two red-and –gold ties, and a red-and-gold scarf. Eila curled her nose in disgust, "Ew, these look dorky." Rana stared blankly at Eila as she gathered up the pants, a short-sleeved shirt, a sweater-vest, and a tie. "I'm going to take a bath; If Remus comes, tell him to meet me at breakfast."

"Ummm…Okay, I will, I guess, but why?" Eila replied as she went up the stairs to change again. Rana put up her hand dismissively as she closed the door to the girl's bathroom.

Later at breakfast…

After Rana was showered she cheerfully sat with Remus, James, Peter and Sirius. She had her wand behind her ear as she took a sizeable spoonful of eggs, "So, I've done some research on Professor Hiltraud. He seems experienced in teaching, and not bad looking, to say the least. Rana said in less than breath after she took a mug of coffee from the table." She looked at an empty spot where Eila should have been and said, "Where the heck is Eila?"

James replied, his mouth chock-full of food, "I 'tink she wen' bag to bed."

"What?"

James swallowed and replied, "I think she went back to bed."

"Oh…well, classes don't start for an hour."

Meanwhile…

Eila was walking through the halls wearing her dorky new Gryffindor robes. She was lost in her thoughts thinking about how stupid she looked until—CRASH! —before she knew it, she was butt-first on the floor. She looked up and saw a hand held out. She picked up her bag(luckily nothing came out of it) and grabbed whose ever hand it was as he helped her up. She saw a charming, young second year boy. He had a sort of soft amber-ivory colored skin. It was very pleasant to look at. His hair was a golden blonde-brown, more on the blonde side. His had the most brilliant dark navy-blue eyes. They were oh so lusciously piercing, but also cunning, sly, and witty.

"Steven Brae." he said, his voice deep(but not too much) and strong. She smiled angelically and replied, "…What?"

"My name…is Steven Brae."

"O-oh. I'm Eila Clough."

"You're a first year?"

"Yes…I am."

"That's cool. It may seem hard at first, but you'll get used to it. Oh, and watch out for the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, he's evil."

"Oh…thank you. It was nice to meet you."

He nodded in agreement as Eila started towards the Great Hall. She looked back to see if he was still there, but he was not, he had walked off as well. She sighed and continued.

Eila walked into the Great Hall and took her empty seat. She grabbed a piece of toast, spooned some scrambled eggs into her plate, and poured herself a glass of pumpkin-mango juice. Rana was nursing on her Coffee when Eila sat down, "So, what's up?"

"Not much, just waiting for class right now why?" Rana replied lazily, looking up at the ceiling.

"I heard from a second year that the defense against the dark arts teacher was evil. Do you think that's true?"

"Nahh… He seems alright, from what I see, some one that is respectable, smart and able to teach."

Eila shuddered nervously at the thought of a satanic teacher, "What if he _is_ mean? Aren't you worried?"

"No, and why should I be? We will only get to see him on Tuesdays."

"But, today _is_ Tuesday."

"Then we'll get to see him!"

The first class of Hogwarts…

Rana and Eila both walked into a large classroom. They were the first ones there. Rana sat front row, left center. Eila sat next to her at front row, right center. The first bell rang as many more students came into the room. The warning bell rang as even more students filled up the room. About thirty seconds after the final bell rang, Sirius came panting into the room. The only empty seat was next to Eila in the front row, far right.

Just then, a tall, and rather handsome man, walked down the large staircase connecting to his office. His hair was a cherry-brown, half-messy and half-neat. His eyes packed a punch with its bright-green glory. He looked no older than twenty. He was coldly glaring from the corner of his eyes at the students.

He pointed his wand and flicked it at the bored as letters wrote themselves onto it: _Professor Hiltraud, Defense against the Dark Arts_.

He began, "I am Professor Benjamin Hiltraud, and you will _not _address me as Benji or B-man. Turn to page three; we will be learning how to hold a wand properly. My greatest pet-peeve is students who do not hold their wands correctly." There was a brief moment in where all you could hear is the flipping of pages (and occasionally the sound of giggling girls). Benjamin just looked around sourly with an even scowl.

Rana, after she had finished reading the chapter, looked up at Professor Hiltraud, "_Wow, He is pretty cute, no older than twenty-two. His hair looks rather well-groomed, I wonder if he's_…"

Professer Hiltraud(or Professer Benji, which ever you prefer) cleared his throat loudly and called Rana up to his desk. He asked in a silent, but harsh tone, "Miss Black, May I ask why you are questioning my masculinity?"

Rana swallowed loudly, "Well, sir… If you must know, there have been some rumors about that circulating, I was just seeing whether it was true or not. And anywho, Why are you prying into my mind? It seems that you are trying to cover something up."

Professor Hiltraud(or Benji. Write us a review to tell us which one you all prefer) coughed loudly again and sent her back to her seat. Rana quickly sat down and bit her thumb in thought, "_What is he trying to cover? It does seem weird that he's prying into my mind and nobody else's. Well, Congratulations, Professor Hiltraud, you are going to be exposed as to who you really are."_

Professor took a keen eye to Rana again, huffed loudly and explained a few simple spells and finally the final bell rang. Rana hesitated to get out of the class and motioned Eila to stay with her to talk to Professor Hiltraud.


	9. Random Day

Chapter Nine – Random Day 

"Hey, Eila, do you think Professor Hiltraud is cute?" asked Rana as she sipped her morning coffee perpetually.  
"I…I-I guess so…but I mean…he _is_ a teacher," Eila replied, drinking a steaming chocolaty beverage, "At least he didn't give us too much homework, but he is weird, from what you said."

Rana nodded in agreement. Eila was chugging down the rest of her, what looked like, chocolate milk and was left with a tasty brown mustache. She licked it off her upper lip playfully. She was about to get up, until the suave second year she had met in the halls the other day, Steven, sat down across from her. He flipped his hair stylishly and asked Eila, "So how was your first day, shorty?"

Eila looked down nervously and blushed. She replied, "Oh…it was good. I didn't get too much homework and the teachers I've met so far seem to be nice."

"That's what you say now. Especially Professor Hiltraud, he's a nutter."

Rana gave him a nasty look from the corner of her eye, he was a nutter, but she still liked him. Eila said, "Oh…I wouldn't say he's a _nutter_. Maybe a little strange, but not a _nutter_."

Steven shrugged. He said to her as he got up quickly, "Well, I'll see you around, shorty." Steven exited the Great Hall.

Rana gave Eila a look and said, "Who the heck was that? And why did he call you _shorty_?"

"That was the second year I told you about. He's the one who told me about Professor Hiltraud being a crazy nutter. His name is Steven and he probably called me 'shorty' because he's a lot taller than I am. He looks about…five foot, four and I'm only four foot, nine. So six inches. Yes, that must be the reason."

Rana squinted at Eila and said, "You know, you don't have to rationalize everything."

Eila tilted her head to the side, got up, and also left the Great Hall.

After classes…

Eila was sitting on a squishy couch in the Gryffindor common room. She was reading a book called _Who took my Steak-and-Kidney pie? A Life Guide._ James looked over her shoulder and said, "You're such a nerd, Eila. Or are you a geek? Or do you just have no social-life?"

Eila stared intently at her book as Sirius and James snickered at their so-called insult. Eila shut her book—_Thud_. She stood up and said, "Yo' Momma!"

"What about her?"

"Yo' Momma so fat that when she fell in love, she broke it!"

"Oh? Well…your Mom—" said James, trying to think of an insult.

"You're so white, James."

"…Your Momma is so stupid that she higglypanked a twigglypuff! _Oooo!_ _Burn!_" A crowd was now forming around the two. The crowd also said _'Oooo_' as if James had insulted her greatly.

Eila raised her eyebrow and replied, "What the heck is that?" Rana walked up to Eila, whispered something into her ear, and stepped back into her spot.

Eila looked angered at James and said, "Yo' Momma so ugly, she walked into taco bell and they all ran for the border!" The other half of the crowd '_Ooooed'_ towards James's side.

James said angrily, "Yo' Momma so ugly that when she saw a Blast-Ended Skrewt, the started singing, 'We are Family!'" His side, once again, '_Ooooed'_.

"Yo' Momma so ugly she turned Medusa to stone!" opposed Eila. Her side _'Ooooed'_.

"Oh no, you _didn't_. _Girl_, you did _not_ just—"

"Yeah, I went there!" taunted Eila. Eila huffed and opened her book again and started reading once more. Rana laughed maniacally as she ran over to Lupin. She said to him, "Come one Lupin! Insult me about my Momma!"

Lupin replied, very properly, "Why would I want to insult you about your mother?"

"Because my mother is Satan herself!" replied Rana.

"Okay…Your Mother is so horrid that she…yelled at you…" said Lupin

"Yo' Momma so ugly that could wake the dead with that face." Taunted Rana.

"Your Mother is so obese that she had _two_ helpings of butter for lunch."

"You're even whiter than James, Remus." Joked Rana.

"No, I'm just smart."

Rana replied smartly, "You have no sense of humor."

"Yes, I do! See? What do you get when you cross a clown with a goat?"

"I don't know Remus, why don't you just tell me?" replied Rana sarcastically.

Lupin started to laugh uncontrollably and said, "A SILLY BILLY!!"

"…That was wicked, Remus. Now tell me if you have any good jokes?"

"That was good!"

Rana coughed dryly and walked off. Lupin frowned.

Eila was sitting at the dinner table, but she was not eating. Her eyes were moving rapidly along the pages of the same book that she was reading earlier. She was so immersed in her book that she didn't notice Rana standing behind her.

"HAPPY INSULT PEOPLES' MOTHERS DAY!!!!" shrieked Rana right into Eila's ear. Eila jumped and screamed loudly in fright. She yelled back, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR? SCARE ME HALF-TO-DEATH, WILL YOU?"

"Sure!"

"No! Let me read in peace!"

"Gosh, Eila, you need to _chill_."

"I don't want to _chill_. I'm going to go do that extra-credit assignment."

"That's not due for another week, why are you worrying about it now?"

"Because _I _don't like to procrastinate."

"Nerd."

"I AM NOT A NERD!!!!" she screamed so loud that the entire Great Hall had heard her. She marched angrily out of the hall and headed towards the Gryffindor commons. Just as she approached the stare case she saw Professor Hiltraud. He had pinned Professor Slughorn, the potions teacher, up against the wall with his right hand balled into a fist, raised in the air menacingly.

Professor Hiltraud whispered threateningly to Slughorn, "I'd be careful if I were you, Horus."

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Dear Readers,

Ha! Cliffhanger! We will be posting the next chapter if we get three more reviews. Thank you! And have a nice day!

-Pomegranite and Aluminumaniac


	10. Lust for blood

Chapter Ten – Lust for Blood 

Horace whimpered fearfully and looked over to Eila. Professor Hiltraud turned around and glared at her sharply. There was a sort of red tint in his eyes that Eila had never seen before. Professor Hiltraud let go of Slughorn's collar, and stomped off angrily. Eila nervously walked up to Slughorn and asked, "Err…Professor? What happened?"

He looked severely shaken and said, "Nothing…nothing. Benjamin is just a bit…a bit angry at me."

"Oh…okay. Well, g'night…Sir." replied Eila, whispering the password to the fat lady and walking in.

Eila was sitting on the couch parallel to the fireplace. She was staring at the wall as if she had seen a ghost.

Rana sat next to Eila and demanded, "You look shaken! What happen?"

"I swear…I swear that Professor Hiltraud…"

"Professor Hiltraud what?" yelled Rana, shaking Eila by the shoulders.

"Well…I saw Professor Hiltraud threatingly Professor Slughorn about something. He said…He said, 'I'd be careful if I were you, Horace.' and I'm pretty sure that I saw a little, itty-bitty, red glow in his eyes…as he left."  
"That's it?"

"Well…don't vampires usually have red eyes?"

" …no…" said Rana, now pondering, "Water! Was anything reflective near by?"

Eila shook her head.

"Well…then you can't prove anything. It was probably the lighting. Now go back to bed."

"It's seven 'o clock!" argued Eila.

"Well…that gives us ten hours of sleep, two hours of breakfast, and one hour to get ready."

"Well, I'm going to bed and you can contemplate over your…paranoia. Tomorrow's a late night for me. Adu!"

"I am not paranoid!" Eila screamed as Rana exited to the girls' dormitory. Everybody looked at her strangely as she sunk back into her seat.

It was once again Tuesday, when the group had double Defense Against the Dark Arts. Rana walked into the room. Eila was with her, but she was standing outside of the door, as if she didn't want to go in. Rana stepped back out of the classroom and asked, "Come on!"

Eila looked reluctantly at Rana.

Rana scoffed and said, "You're still not worried about that stupid vampire conspiracy, are you?"

"Well…what if it's true?"

"Do you have proof?"

"No…but I will get some some…soon…"

Rana raised her eyebrow and said, "Okay then…" She walked into the classroom and took her seat. Eila hesitated, but followed her and took her own seat as well.

Eila opened a large book that she had gotten from the library the past night. It was called _Vampires: Volume III, The Lust for Blood_. Rana looked over to Eila and sighed in disappointment as she got our text book. The class bell rang as Professor Hiltraud came down the stairs. He looked especially malicious today. He had spotted Eila's book as Eila shut it quickly, got out her text book and tried her best to look innocent. He glared at her viciously.

Rana was writing some extra notes down from chapter twenty-three in blue ink. Professor Hiltraud slammed his wand down on her desk and said, "Detention! My office, 9 'o clock this evening!"

"Why?"

"Do not argue with me!"

"Fine…_Benji_…"

He snorted angrily as he started to write something onto the board hastily: _Chapter twenty-one, the History of Vampires. _

He said sourly, "Does anybody know who the first recorded vampire was?"

Rana's hand shot up immediately, and strangely enough, Eila's didn't. Rana blurted out, "Countess Elizabeth Bathory!"

"Detention! Speaking out in class!"

Rana huffed and folded her arms angrily, "What the heck? Sour-puss!"

He glared again. It had been at least half way through class. Professor Hiltraud asked, "Who was the last known vampire to be dispatched?"

Eila took a deep breath and yelled, "Yo' Momma!"

"Excuse me?"

"You hear me! Oh and…about your mother…"

"What about my mother?" he replied, actually seeming very calm.

" She's a…a…cauldron bum!"

"Is that the best you can come up with?"

"No! Dragon bogies!" she said.

"Dragon bogies?"

"Your…your mom is a dragon bogie."

"Is that so?"

"…yeah!" she said, trying to sound convincing.

"Well, that's nice. Anyways, as I was saying…" he said, continuing on his lesson. Eila and Rana both looked at each other preposterously.

Eila said to Rana as soon as she walked out of the classroom, "I _told_ you he was a vampire!"

"He's just having an off-day doing. Maybe he's in _love_—"

"Who'd fall in love with such an aa—"

"Maybe he needs a hug!"

"Well, I'm going to go do research!" she said as she walked off towards the other side of the corridor. "Okay! Bye, crazy!" bellowed Rana across the hall.

Eila had gotten to the empty side of the corridor, when she bumped into Professor Hiltraud. She looked at him strangely, "How…how did you get here from…? You were just…"

"…Do you know where your friend is?"

"Even if I did, why would I tell you?"

"Because she forget her homework assignment."

"Jee, why don't you give it to her in _detention_?"

"What if she wants to get it done before detention?"

"No, she won't. She's a _big_ procrastinator."

"Listen…do you…_know_ anything?"

"About what?"

"You know…"

"No…"

He scoffed and said, "Never mind…" He had finally given up on getting any information out of Eila.

Professor Hiltraud looked at his watch nervously. He excused himself as he rushed thruought the castle looking for Rana. After a while, he found her looking through some old newspapers in the school library.

The professor sat besides her, reading over his shoulder. Rana felt his hot breath down her neck, "Excuse me, if you don't mind I really wish that you wouldn't breathe down my neck, it's rather uncomfortable."

The professor stepped back a few steps and said in a gruff voice, "You know, I never knew that your neck…has this strange freckle on it."

"Is that so, and why may I ask is it that you are looking at my neck."

"Well, it just took my notice, it looks like it wasn't meant to be there though, as if it were put there by some prankster that wanted to see a huge, disgusting freckle on your…_perfect_ neck. He said as he stroked her neck lightly and he got closer, nearly putting his lips to her shoulder. Rana pulled away, somewhat creeped out be her professor's advances.

"Professor, are-are you okay, you are kinda creeping me out…I-I'm only eleven, I'll see you in detention." She replied shockingly as she scooped up her newspapers and ran to the Gryffindor common room.

As Rana walked in she sat down next to Eila and shook "Eila…I'm scared."

Eila looked at her curiously, "Why is that?"

"P-p-professor Hiltraud, he-he just started hitting on me, and I'm not even of age…it's really scaring me." She said as she pushed her knees up against her chest and stated to cry softly, "Why, why me?"

Eila got up closer to Rana and gave her a hug, "Don't pay any mind to him, it's all in your head."

"No, Eila you don't get it, he…he stroked my neck and almost… like necked me, but I pulled away. I'm so confused, what was he trying to accomplish?"

Eila sat with her for a while as she read some of the newspapers that were scattered on the coffee table. "Death eaters, what are those?"

Rana looked at her like she was nuts, "Death Eaters are followers of a rising threat to the wizarding world; and most of these are purebloods, so I need to know more, to see who exactly I can trust."

Rana looked at the clock nervously, it was eight thirty-five and dinner was almost over. She got up, dried her tears, took a deep, cleansing sigh and cleaned up everything before she went to go grab something quick to eat.

Rana walked into the dark, damp room timidly as she sat down with some homework on her desk. She tried to stay calm, but as she sat there, she noticed she was noticeably tense, she breathed a little and clamed herself down. Just then a cat brushed up against her legs. The cat meowed softly and rubbed her legs again.

"Eila, what are you doing here?"

"I came to keep him away from you." Eila said in a squeaky voice as she jumped up on her lap and started to purr.

"Well, can you at least turn into a mouse or something, so that he can't see you unless he looks for you?

Eila nodded ant turned herself into a black mouse and cheered in an adorable mousy voice, "Hooray! I did it! I can turn into a mouse!"

Rana looked at her puzzlingly, "Can you turn into a brown mouse; Professor Benji can still see you."

Eila scoffed in a chipmunk-ish voice, "This isn't easy, you know!"

Rana sighed confidently, "Man, if you want to be espionage, you need to disguise yourself properly." She said as she flicked some of her bangs out of her face.

Eila scoffed again, "I would like to see you turn into a brown mouse and keep it like that for a long time!"

"I'll do it later, now shush!" said Rana, looking back to her homework. She picked up her quill and was about to dip it in her blue ink, but she stopped and corked it. She opened her bag and took out a bottle of black ink, uncorked it, dipped her quill in it, and resumed writing her essay. She didn't want to get into trouble again.

Eila was scurrying around the room. She climbed up Professor Hiltraud's desk and sat behind a large stack of handed-in essays. Professor Hiltraud was grading some papers. He was currently grading Eila's. She was happy to know that she got a perfect score. Eila looked up at Professor Hiltraud. It was even darker than usual in the room. Normally, the windows were always closed, but now, there was hardly any light. It was hard to see even his face, but Eila could tell that he was now grading Rana's paper. She had gotten a perfect score, but Professor Hiltraud was writing a note at the bottom of it; he had not done this for any of the other papers. Eila tried her best to read it: _I'd like you to m—_

Professor Hiltraud had spotted the mouse. He picked Eila up by the scruff and threw her hard across the room. She slid across the floor until she hit the wall. "Ow!" she squeaked quietly to herself. Rana looked as if she were about to laugh at the mouse. The mouse scurried back up towards Rana and stuffed herself inside her bag. Professor Hiltraud walked up to Rana and demanded, "Stop writing!"

Rana slowly put her quill.

"For detention, I want you to dance!"

Rana raised her eyebrow, "Wait…what?"

"You heard me…"

"You're the weirdest professor I have ever met. I don't like dancing."

"That's exactly why it's your punishment."

"I fail to see the connection between dancing and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Well…I'm a teacher…"

"Yes, and…?" she asked, mildly confused.

"You will dance won't you?" he asked, his eyes starting to glow a crimson red.

Rana was captured by this. She tried her best to fight it, but to no avail. She replied with a blank expression on her face, "Yes, master."

"Good girl." He replied in a low voice as he began to close in on her neck. Eila, the mouse, scurried out of the bag and bit him on the ankle. He sqealed and grabbed his ankle. Eila yelled as loud as she could to Rana, "Rana, run!" Rana didn't listen, she instead, continued standing there with same blank expression on her face.

Professor Hiltraud picked up the mouse and exclaimed, "A talking mouse? Wait…that can't be a mouse…" he flicked his wand at the mouse as he dropped it. Eila turned back into her normal self. She huffed and folded her arms. She said, "You're a meanie!"

"I'm a meanie, eh? Well, if you tell anybody, _anybody_, then I will personally suck your scrumptious 'A' negative, little veins dry."

"Just don't hurt my friends!"

"Well, my dearie, you know much too much for me to let you hang out with your little friend here."

"Well, she won't listen to me."

"And I _wonder_ why…"

"You really are a meanie…butt."

"You can't stand up to me, you're just a little girl."

"I'm not little, I'm only four foot, six!"

"Stature is not an issue, m'dear, now I suggest you scurry along and do not tell anyone." He said menacingly, turning back to Rana.

Just then the curfew-bell rang and Rana broke from her trance, "Oh, does time fly, good-bye professor, I'll see you next week." Rana said cheerfully as she bumped Eila's shoulder angrily and cantered out to the hall. Rana shut the door.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ha Ha, another cliffhanger for next week! See y'all here real soon

Thankee vewy much,

Pomegranite and Aluminiumaniac


	11. Skip to Second Year

**Chapter Eleven – Skip to Second Year**

It was the night of Hallow's Eve, the day before Halloween, and Eila was sitting on her favorite couch, parallel to the fireplace. It was about nine 'o clock. She was reading another book on vampires: _Hemovenus_.

Rana walked in and looked at Eila strangely and asked, "What the heck is _Hemovenus_? And why are you reading? It's almost Halloween!"

"_Hemovenus_ is Latin for 'Blood Charm' and I'm reading because I like to read."

Rana raised her eyebrow and said, "Oh…Kay, then…" She got up and headed for the exit.

"Where are you going? The curfew-bell already rang!"

"Oh…I'm going to help…Rem—P-Professor Hiltraud." Rana lied.

Eila furrowed her eyebrow, "And, why are you going to help Professor Hiltraud?"

Rana lightened up her expression and cheered, "It's almost Halloween! And he said I could decorate the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom! Isn't that cute, but I'm having trouble picking whether the orange and black or the black and green ribbons will look best around the candles, which do you think?"

Eila laughed as she grabbed Rana's shoulder, "Rana, you're a terrible liar, you know that?"

Rana turned away and skipped away, mumbling halloweenish songs to herself, "Im not a bad liar, you are just bad at noticing who is a liar." She smirked as she once again skipped off to the yard, where she promised to meet Remus.

Remus was sitting under the old Oak tree, reading a book about werewolves. He sighed as he loked at his watch, "Wow, Eleven-thirty already? She's late."

"Remus Jonathan Lupin, I am never late. I come exactly when I mean to." A familiar voice sounded from behind him.

"Rana! You surprised me; do you have it?"

"Yeah, just do not drink it here, or else people will wonder what it is, and I don't want you to get expelled for your…condition." Rana whispered into Remus's ear as she slid something into his pocket, "Remember, left pocket. Do you want me to come with you?"

Remus turned away, "No, you cannot come with me, Rana. I will be too dangerous for you to be here with me. I can and will attack any one I see, and there is no need to shed unnecessary blood."

"Remus, just follow me and drink the potion, it will give you at least some control, it's not perfected, but it will do for now." Rana replied cautiously as she looked around for prefects and motioned Remus to follow her.

They had gone into the Forbidden Forest. Remus placed his hand over his left pocket. A frightened expression grew on his face. The flask was not there. He said, "Uh-oh!"

"Uh-oh? Uh-oh, what?" replied Rana.

"The potion…it's gone…" he said putting his hand in his pocket; there was a hole in it. Remus looked up towards the clouds; the moon was still somewhat covered by clouds. Rana yelled, "Uh-oh! Check your other pocket! Quick! You have thirty seconds."

Remus quickly checked his other pocket, pulling out a flask of brown liquid. He yelled back, "Hey! Here it is!"

"Drink it! Quick! Quick!"

He quickly uncorked the bottle. He looked over to the sky; the clouds were gone. He could feel himself loosing control. Rana ran over to him and forced the potion down his throat. He coughed. His body was now fighting agaisnt the transformation. Rana screamed, "Come on, Remus, fight it!"

Remus, instead of turning into a werewolf, transformed into a wolf. He looked at Rana, backed up, as if getting read to attack. Rana's eyes opened wide as she said, "Oh…okay…nice Remus. Good doggy…come on…don't hurt me…don't eat my face off…"

Remus charged, full speed for Rana, and instead of eating her face off, he knocked her over and started licking her. Rana laughed at this. Rana sat down and started stroking Remus's head. She said, "See, I told you it would work. And you were all worried about nothing." Remus yipped in excitememnt as he started chasing his tail to entertain Rana. Just then, Severous Snape walked up to them, Professor Dumbledore behind him.

Dumbledore nodded to Severous and said, "Thank you, Severous, you may leave now."

Rana yelled back at Severous as he left, "Severous, keep you're stupid, stuffy nose out of other peoples' business!"

Dumbledore looked at Rana, surprsingly, not angry. He said, "Miss Black, who is this…adorable little pooch?"

Rana knew that she could trust Professor Dumbledore, so she replied, "This is…Remus Lupin, sir."

"I see…and why may I ask that he is a…doggy?"

"He's not, sir, he's a wolf."

"Yes…ofcourse. Why is he a wolf?"

"Well, I brewed a potion…because his…uhhh….earlobes were…uneven and it went horribly…wrong." Rana lied, rather badly.

"…Please, I may ask, that you tell me the truth. I promise that I will not tell anyone and there will be no circumstances to whatever you have to tell me."

"I'm sure you were aware of Remus's condition before…?"  
"Yes, I was."

"So why are you asking me?"

"I just wanted to make sure that no one has…well…come with me…"

"What about Remus?"

"Yes, yes, him too." He said. Dumbledore took Remus and Rana to the Whomping Willow, where the openeing to the Shreiking Shack was. Dumbledore told them that this would be a safe place for Remus to transform.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Readers,

We are going to skip to second year, because quite frankly, first year is dreadfully boring. Second year is a lot more interesting than first year. And we will probably skip third year too, because fourth year is freaking awesome. Thanks and Goodnight(or goodmorning).

-Pomegranite

-Aluminiumaniac


	12. Sibling Rivalry

Chapter Twelve – Sibling Rivalry 

"RANA ARIES BLACK! SIRIUS ORION BLACK! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY YOUR BLOOD-PURITY?" yelled Mrs. Black, "HOW DARE YOU CHOOSE GRYFFINDOR!?!"

Sirius looked unaffected by her yelling and Rana, however, was shaking madly. Sirius said, "Blame the hat." 

"I'M GOING TO _BURN_ THAT HAT! OUR FAMILY HAS BEEN IN SLYTHERIN FOR CENTURIES! CENTURIES!" she shrieked, "EVER SINCE THE MIDDLE AGES!"

Sirius replied, "Well, have you noticed that none of those people are alive?"

"YOU! GO TO YOUR ROOM!" she yelled. Sirius shrugged and walked upstairs, very much steady. Rana looked extremely frightened and guilty.

Eila was sitting awkwardly on a couch in Sirius's room after hearing Mrs. Black

yelling at Sirius and Rana. Sirius walked in and plopped down on his bed. Rana came in also, but was sobbing. Rana cried, "I've dishonored my family! I've disgraced the noble and most ancient house of Black. Infact, it's better if I didn't even live!"  
Sirius rolled his eyes and said, "Rana, chill."

"Sirius, do you know what happens when someone disgraces a house?"

"No, what?"

"They get burned off the wall! They are no longer a part of the family anymore!" she sobbed.

Sirius sighed in relief and said, "Thank, God! I hate this family!"

"How dare you say that? They graciously raised you and even _kept you_ in this home! Isn't that enough?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"You ungrateful, little brat!" she yelled. Sirius swatted his hand towards her direction and turned to Eila, who was trying her best to keep out of it.

He said, "Do you get her _at all_?"

Eila shrugged, and said after thought, "Well, I understand where she is coming from. I mean, without family, you get stuck in an orphanage. And that, my friend, isn't fun."

Eila was reading to her cat, innocently until a horrid creature, pallid and skinny, walked up to her. She let out a short scream and yelled, "SIRIUS! THERE'S A MONSTER! KILL IT!"

Sirius came running in, carrying one of the swords from the walls. As soon as he saw the 'monster' that Eila was scared of, he started laughing. He said, "Kreacher, get out of here, quit scaring your new Mistress."

Kreacher replied, "The only Mistresses that I serve are Mistress Rana and Mistress Walburga."

Sirius yelled as he threw a heavy book at his head, "Get your stupid, boney bottom out of here!" Kreacher bowed and immediately left the room.

Eila said, "What the heck was that?"

"That was Kreacher. The most crazy, insane, suicidal house-elf you'll ever see."

"Oh, that was a house-elf? They look a lot better at Hogwarts.

"I think it's the generations of in-breeding. His father was his uncle, you know."

"Eeew." Eila replied, disgusted. Sirius looked at the book that Eila was reading to her cat. He asked, "What's that you're reading?"

"A book."

"Yes…which book?"

"I found it…it's about your family's history."

"Wow, that must be boring."

"No, actually, it's quite exciting. Did you know that your sixth great-grandfather was Phineas Nigellus Black? He was a headmaster at Hogwarts!"  
Sirius nodded, "Yes, I've read this book. They teach you this stuff before you're potty trained. Rana still remembers it all by memory."

"Wow." Eila replied.

Sirius said, "Here, come with me." Eila handed Sirius the book, put her cat down, and followed him.

Sirius took her to a room with many, many, many faces painted upon the wall. He looked around at the numerous faces painted on the wall, he tried to speak, but he was interrupted by Rana, who was sitting in the corner by a burnt spot.

"These are our ancestors, ever since the middle-ages our family has married pure-blooded wizards, resulting into the 5 major pure-blooded families, the Blacks, the Potters, the Malfoys, the Princes, and the Lestranges, and five people that have been disinherited because they betrayed their bloodline, married blood-traitors, or helped someone that they shouldn't have. This is what we were born into, and these are the laws that we must keep."

Sirius snarled, "We're not forced to keep this, we are individuals who have the right to express how we feel about this nonsense!"

Rana sighed calmly and replied, "No, Sirius, it is not that way with us, we cannot choose the laws that were sent down on us by our forbearers."

"Rana, you want this pure-blooded gobblygook? Don't you think that we have the right as people to choose?"

"No, Sirius, I do not like it, but I am forced to endorse it. People have been following this for centuries; and what makes me so special that I can disrespect my elders by not following their example?"

"You, well, you…need to put a wand in it, Rana. This is stupid, this whole "pure-blood," poppycock. It's all a bunch of owl droppings. "

Rana looked amazed at what Sirius just said, "Who taught you such raunchy language? Surely you didn't hear them from us!" Rana looked very angry with Sirius, "I'm telling mum!" Rana accused as she raced down the stairs.

"Oh, fine! But it doesn't matter; that woman doesn't give a damn for me!" Sirius bellowed.

"That may be so, but she's still your mother!"

"Unfortunately!"

"You're the…" she huffed very deeply at Sirius and said, "…I can't believe I'm related to you…you…numbskull!" Sirius sighed and turned back to Eila, who was standing very awkwardly next to the wall.

Sirius said, "Okay…Sorry, about that, but you know Rana, and her 'traditionalism.'"

Eila replied, "I…don't really understand this 'pure-blood' ludicrousity."

"Finally! Someone agrees with me!" cried Sirius. Rana snidely walked in through the door of the 'family tree' room. She said, "Gee, Sirius, I wonder why you can never get anybody to agree with you."

Sirius replied, "Go away, Rain-on!"

"What the heck, do I look like deodorant or something?" she said, "And Mom said to stop yelling at Kreacher. He did nothing wrong to you."

"Kreacher scared Eila! I had to protect her!"

"…I don't think Eila's the one needing protecting."

"Are you calling me a pansy?"

"No, I'm calling you a fruity, sissy, emasculate, Twinkie…boy…I think," she paused, "You are a boy…right?"

"I am not a tasty cream-filled pastry!" said Sirius. Eila had slipped out of the room because of her akwardism.

Rana replied, "You're a namby-pamby pantywaist!"

"You're a peppery prick!"

"Well, you're _gay_!"

"I am _not _gay! I'm Sirius Black!"

"Now you're _proud _to be a Black?" Rana provoked.

"No! Do you think I can _help it_ for what my last name is?"

"Yes, you can!"

"If I was of age! And Mom and Dad wouldn't do it; they hate me!"

"Ofcourse they hate you, why would they not?"

"And this is coming from Miss Perfect?" said Sirius, proudly, beating on his chest.

"So you agree that I am perfect?"

"I never said that!"

"But you implied it!"

"I didn't imply anything!"  
"Yes, you did!"

"No, I didn't "

"Yes…you did!"

"No…I didn't!"

"YES, YOU DID!"

"NO, I DIDN'T!"

"YES-HUH!"

"NUH-UH!"

"YES-HUH!"

"NUH-UH!"

"YES-HUH!"

"NUH-UH!" Just then, Mrs. Black barged into the room. She screamed, "SHUT…UP! I CAN HEAR YOU TWO BICKERING DOWNSTAIRS! DO YOU WANT THOSE BLOODY MUGGLES TO HEAR YOU?"

Rana started to fake cry and hugged her mother. She said, "I tried to stop him, Mommy, but he just kept insulting me! He said the 'F-word!'"

Mrs. Black gasped and comforted Rana. She said, "Oh, my poor dear girl!" Sirius glared at Rana as she stuck her tongue out at him. He did the same thing as he stomped off to his room and slammed the door.

"Hello." Said Eila as Sirius walked in and jumped; he hadn't notice Eila there. She was petting her cat, seated on Sirius's bed.

He said, "Oh…hello. I hate Rana, she is such a prick!"

"She can be a little bit…unreasonable…"

"A little? Are you kidding me? She _never_ gets in trouble!"

"Then don't try to get in trouble; it's actually quite easy!"

"But, I always get blamed for what Rana does!"

"Then don't let her make you the scapegoat."

"But, It's Rana! She's twisted!"

"Well, then become just as twisted as Rana!"

"How?"

"Think backwards."

"Think backwards? What the hell does that mean?"

"_Or_, you could learn how to be cunning, smart, and then being twisted, will come naturally."

"But…but, how come you're not twisted?"  
"_Am I, Sirius?_" she said in a horribly honeyed voice.

"I don't know…are you…? Do all girls think like this?" asked Sirius, confused.

"No…only the smart ones." She replied.

"There are such things as _dumb girls_?"

"Ofcourse! They're known as the—quote-on-quote—popular girls."

"…but they're hott!"

"Eew…no they're not! They're stupid and mean!"

"So? Who cares about that?"

"Rana and I do."

"So? Who cares? You guys don't matter."

"You have the emotional range of an _eyedropper_!" yelled Eila.

"So? Eyedroppers are cool!" said Sirius. Rana had just walked into Sirius's room as well.

She said, "Come on, Sirius, Eila. The train leaves in three hours."

Rana laughed, "Sirius, you are truly a hopeless case, aren't you?"

Sirius looked back at Rana and pointed to the door and bellowed, "Rana, go away! This is _my_ room!"

"You know, if you really want me to go, I guess you do not care that the Hogwarts express leaves in three hours?"

Eila, who was avoiding this conversation until she heard Rana say that, leaped up and grabbed her trunk. Eila grasped Sirius's arm and dragged him along with her. She threw him at his own trunk and urged him to come down stairs. She yelled, "Come on, Sirius let's go!"

Sirius huffed as he dragged his trunk and went down the stairs where he met his parents, who were glaring maliciously at him as the motioned for the others to apparate to King's Cross.


	13. The Sparring Team

**Chapter Thirteen – The Sparring Team**

Everyone had seated themselves as Dumbledore approached his podium for announcements. He said, "Welcome, newcomers, and welcome back, old-comers alike. The Gryffindor Dueling team is open for audition for anyone 2nd year and up. Please consult Sheridan Brae for details. Quiddich tryouts for Ravenclaw will be held on Tuesday…"

Eila whispered to Rana, who was sitting next to her, "I didn't know Steven had a brother."

"Yeah, he does. You didn't know that? Well, he's sitting right across from us." Murmured Rana. Eila eyeballed over to Sheridan. He was very handsome; he looked like an older version of Steven. He looked like he was in his 4th year. Eila whispered back to Rana, "He's cute."

"No, he's not!"

"Well, it's not my fault that you have anomalous taste." Said Eila.

"I know too many pure-bloods already! And I'd be darned if I marry a pure-blood."

"They're pure-bloods? Steven pretty nice for a pure-blood."

Rana looked away and said, "Yeah…I guess…" She spooned some food into her plate and started eating. After a while, she saw Eila tap Sheridan's arm.

Eila, trying to avoid eye contact with Sheridan, nervously squeaked, "Umm…I was wondering…if my friend and I could…uhhh….join the Dueling…Club…please…?"

"You're going to have to try out, like the rest of them, but 2nd years never make it anyway...not to mention girls."

Eila scoffed and said, "Girls can _too_ fight better than boys, Pretty Boy!" Rana was now watching this in interest.

"That's _Mr. Pretty Boy_ to you, Little Miss Cream-Puff."

"You're mean, you…mean-face…head…person…" Eila said. She finally resorted to sticking her tongue out at him childishly. Rana whispered, "Aren't we so mature, Eila? You still think they're nice?" Eila grunted and flicked a piece of corn at Sheridan, for which he didn't seem to notice. For the rest of dinner, Eila was making faces at Sheridan and flicking small bits of food at him. Rana was sitting next to Eila, making fun of her.

Just then, Steven sat next to him brother. Eila quickly stopped flicking Skittles at Sheridan and, instead, stuffed them in her mouth. Steven said, "Hey, Eila."

Eila waved back, her mouth full of Skittles. She swallowed with a gulp.

"You have a little spot on your face…right there."

Eila wiped it off hastily with her robe-sleeve. Rana coughed and got up. She said, "Oh, and the password is _Treacle-Ginseng_." She had exited the Great Hall; she really didn't like to be around Steven, she thought of him as a popular prick.

She was ranting in her head as she walked, not paying much attention to anything else but her own thoughts until she felt something hit her shoulder, then a scattering of paper and books.

She snapped back to reality soon as she looked back to see a small Slytherin boy with a pallid complexion and shoulder-length, greasy, black hair. His eyes were a dark brown as they met hers. She apologized politely as she started to help pick up the unknown boy's books.

"I'm sorry, er…"

"Severus, Severus Snape, and you are…"

"Black—er—I mean Rana Black, sorry for bumping into you, I'm sure that hurt."

"No, that's alright, it didn't really hurt that much." Severus replied absent-mindedly, "You're a Black? How come you are in Gryffindor? I thought that the whole family was in Slytherin, like the other pure-blooded families."

"Yeah, well, let's just say I do not like the pure-blood garbage—but I have nothing against a pureblood!" She looked at his sinking head.

"No, I evenly dislike that stuff too." Snape blushed slightly as he excused himself and made his way down to the dungeon."

"What a strange boy!" she thought to herself as she made her way up to the seventh floor. Eila, Sirius, Remus, James and Peter were chatting merrily. Eila looked up at Rana, who was sitting alone on a loveseat strumming a duck-taped acoustic guitar, tuning it quietly.

"Rana, what happened to your guitar?"

"Stupid doxies dropped it off the fifth-floor staircase, had to duct tape it together so I could get it here in one piece, I didn't have my wand with me then."

"Oh, are you going to try-out for the dueling club?" asked Eila.

"Of course, I have to beat that Sheridan jerk. His britches are pulled way too high for his own good. Let's practice some basic spells tomorrow after Potions class."

Eila looked at her shoes angrily, as if she were going to start spitting acid at them at any moment.

"He's…I hate him." Said Eila. She looked up from her shoes, "He doesn't think that girls can fight. He doesn't think we'll make it on the squad!"

"I know; I heard him too! What a jerk, he is!"

"I can't believe that Sheridan's related to Steven; I bet _he_ thinks that I can make it on to the squad!"

"What do you see in Steven, anyway?"

"Well…He's smart, he's strong, and he listens to me."

"I don't like any of those Braes—"

"Just because they're pure-blood, right?"

"Well, their parents are pure-blood maniacs—"

Eila exclaimed, "Well, that doesn't mean that their children are. I don't know about Sheridan, but I know for a fact that Steven is not. I mean look at you and Sirius."

Rana rolled her eyes and continued playing her guitar, trying to block out everything else.

XxXxX

The next day was the tryouts for the Gryffindor Sparring Squad (now called G.S.S, because we are lazy). Eila and Rana had both agreed to meet in the courtyard in front of the Herbology greenhouse.

Rana looked at her watch nervously, "She's late, and only two more hours until tryouts, What the bloody hell was she thinking?"

Eila ran up to Rana, panting, "I'm sorry I'm late, but I had a little run-in with Professor Slughorn. He wants to have you over for a party tomorrow, and he insists that we come."

Rana smirked, "Take a breath, Eila, you are not that late, I just got here myself," Rana lied. "Anyway, are you prepped for tryouts?"

"Yeah, I have everything, I'm just a bit…a bit scared, that's all."

"What is there to be afraid of? It's just a bunch of sweaty jocks who think they are good with magic. Gryffindor hasn't won a dueling cup for almost a decade, it shouldn't be that hard."

"Yeah, I guess," Eila returned shyly "But they are a bit older than us, so they will know mare magic, won't they?"

"Well, obviously, Eila. But that is why you are here. did you nick that third-year book off of that Hufflepuff kid?"

"Yeah, here it is, _Basics for expert beginners, volume three _by Harold G. Wandypants."

Rana smirked as Eila read the last mane of the author, "That's hilarious! Wandypants! Are you sure that's what it says?"

"Yeah, it's in big gold letters here," Replied Eila, "Okay, let's practice." Rana looked in the book and turned to Eila. She said, pointing her wand at Eila, "_Piscus Verto!_" Eila then, turned into a bright green fish. Rana cheered, "It worked! Okay, _Piscus Reverto!_" Eila then turned back into herself.

Rana said, "Okay, now it's your turn."

Eila lifted her wand and squeaked, "_Multis Lacrimis!_" A purple jet of magic rushed out of her wand and hit Rana. Rana started crying immediately.

Eila gasped, "Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?!?"

Rana started laugh-crying and said, "No, I'm…fine…that's the spell…it makes you cry…It'll ware off…hopefully…_Rictumsempra!_" The spell had hit Eila and she started rolling on the floor, laughing maniacally.

Once both of these spells wore off, the two friends laughed at how stupid Eila looked as a fish.

XxXxX

Rana and Eila both walked into the Gryffindor Dueling Gym. Rana looked very confident and angry, however, Eila looked nervous and scared. The gym was laden with 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th year boys. There were no other girls. This gym was pretty big, but it was very beautiful. It looked about three and a half miles around. There was a long stage in the middle of it, where Sheridan Brae was standing lazily, his wand clutched in his right hand .

Rana smirked confidently at the people, who were parrying spells off one another, "Ha! These guys look whimper than I thought!" Rana drew her wand and looked around, "Eila, I think that we sign up over there; come with me."

Eila followed Rana to a small table, where an older Gryffindor was sitting, carefully calculating something. H looked up at the two girls, "You two are in the wrong room, charms club is the next door. This is the dueling squad."

Rana smiled and laughed softly as she remarked, "Oh, I'm sorry, but you seem to be in the wrong room, this is not the ninny-pantywaist-pansy- ickle- wittle miss muffin baking class, either. We are here to sign up to duel."

The boy looked at Rana as he took a quill and dipped it into some ink, "Name, and year here please, and sign these forms stating that yu will not sue if you get hurt. You duel at your own risk, got it, creampuff?"

"I get it," Rana sighed as she read and signed the papers, "So, when do I go on?"

The boy sighed again, "Rana Aries Black, Is it? You will be going against Captain Brae shortly. God luck (you'll need it)."

Rana thanked him as she sat down on a bench near a shaking third year, "Don-don't do it! They were absolute-a-a-absolutely b-b-b-brutal to me!" He started to cry. Rana ignored him as she examined the fighting style of the leader. "_Very loose style, not very precise, just get behid him, and keep moving. A quick spell and…defend!_" She screamed in her head as the previous dueler defended a spell. The other dueler was down for the cound and Sheridan wiped some sweat off his brow. He grabbed his clipboard and called out Rana's name. She quickly got up and stepped onto the catwalk. The boys looked at Rana and started booing her to get off the stage. Rana smirked as she nodded to Sheridan, "Ready when you are, Captain Brae."

Sheridan remarked, "I'm not going to fight a girl!"

"What, are you scared that you are going to get your arse kicked in front of these boys?"

The crowd jeered with excitement as Rana threw the insult at him.

"No, I'm afraid I migh hurt your, delicate frame." He said as he stroked her neck.

"Delicate? Who me? You must be talking about yourself!" She spat as she bowed, "Prepare yourself!"

Sheridan half-bowed as he walked to his spot, grumbling angrily, "Ready, six successful shots to be on the team . Ready? Go!"

"_Expelliarmus! Perterreo!_" Rana cast as she aggressively as she got ready to block.

Sheridan scrambled to get his wand, "_Levicorpus!_"

"_Protego! Reducto!_"

Sheridan blew backwards five feet and slammed into the wall. He recovered quickly and waited for Rana to approach. She did. He cast a quick spell, but Rana grabbed Sheridan's shoulder, and turned him around and cast Levicorpus at his back. He flew upside down, his pant legs goingdown to his knees. Rana undid the spell and called "_Piscus Verto!_"

Seriden turned into a fish. Rana picked up the little minnow and turned him pack, "_Stupefy!_" the match was over. Sheriden, who knew he was defeated got up to his feet and gave Rana her rank, "You are first Dea'arch. Congratulations." Rana smiled and got off the stage, boys parting their way, so she won't turn them into a fish.

Sheridan called out to the crowd, looking off of a clipboard, "Clough! Get up here!" Eila nervously walked up the steps and onto the stage. The crowd of boys were all laughing at Eila because of all people, Eila, the smallest of them all showed up to be on the Dueling team, of all teams. Eila took a deep breath and walked to the middle of the stage, bowed, as did Sheridan, turned back and put her wand at the ready. He said, "Good Luck I think you'll need it."

He said, "_Expelliarmus!_"

"_Protego! C-Cruentus!_" she said, rather quickly. The spell hit his chest, which was now gruesomely stained with blood.

"_Incarcerous!_" yelled Sheridan. Ropes emerged from his wand, aiming for Eila.

Eila ducked and yelled, pointing her wand, "_R-R-Reducio! L-Levicorpus!_" Both spells had hit Sheridan quite turbulently. He had shrunk to the size of a pocket-dictionary and was dangling upside down by his ankles. Eila counter-cursed these two spells and waited for him to attack.

He started, "_Petrificus Tota—_"

"_Expelliarmus! Rictumsempra! Multis Lacrimis!_" Eila said, in one breath. Sherdian's wand flew out of his hand, as he started rolling on the floor fighting between laughing and crying. It was quite funny.

After Eila had counter-cursed all of these spells, she walked up to Sheridan and helped him up.

He held out his hand as Eila took it Sheridan shook it proudly. He said, "Welcome to the team, mate."

"Oh…thanks…" she replied, "What position?"  
"Second Dea'arch."

"Okay…cool…" she said, walking towards the back of the crowd to watch everyone else.


	14. Tender Bonds & Weird Emotions

Chapter Fourteen – Tender Bonds & Weird Emotions 

"And that concludes our lesson for today. Your homework is to write a nine-inch essay on three of the major Defensive Spells. Have a _nice_ day!" Said Professor Hiltraud merrily as the bell rang.

Eila tapped him on the shoulder as the rest of the class cleared out of the room. He turned around and replied with an even more enthusiastic, "Hmm?"

"Why are you so…so happy?" asked Eila, sort of freaked out by Professor Hiltraud's new-found cheeriness.

"I don't know…I just feel really _chipper_ today. Would you like a mint? Have one!" he said, handing Eila a mint.

"Are you okay, Professor Hiltraud? Do you have a fever? Are you delusional or something?"

"Yes, I'm fine, infact, I've never felt better. And no, I'm not sick. Yes, though, I may be delusional because I have nothing to be happy about." Said Professor Hiltraud, tickled pink. Eila shrugged and unwrapped the mint—

"NO! DON'T EAT THAT MIINT!" came Rana's voice. She came running into the classroom, panting very hard when she stopped.

Rana whispered into Eila's ear as Professor Hiltraud wrote "Good Afternoon!" in big, bold, bubble-letters on the board, "Don't eat them, they're spiked."

"With what?" asked Eila.

"With an unusually booming amount of Extra-Virgin Pepper-up Potion."

"…Oh…" said Eila, tossing the mint in the wastebasket, "Well, keep him on it; I'm starting to enjoy the new Professor Hiltraud."

"Me too! I'm going to the Quiddich Pitch to meet the guys wanna come?" asked Rana. Eila nodded and followed Rana.

X x X

"Hello, Remmy!" said Rana, seating herself next to Remus, who was sitting on one of the bleachers. Rana gave him a friendly hug. Eila walked passed the two and made her way to the bottom of the pitch where Sirius, James, and Peter were standing.

James said, "Hey, Eila. Oi, do you have a broom?"

"…No, but I was thinking of getting one next year—"

"Do you wanna fly with us?"

"I would, but like I said, I don't have a broom—" Eila said, but she was interupted by Sirius.

"Here, you can ride with me." He said, getting on his broom and making a place for Eila behind him. Eila was a little bit unsure about flying.

"It's…It's not scary or anything, is it?"

"No, no, not at all." Said Sirius, smiling at her conclusively, "Come on!"

"Oh…alright." She said, timidly getting on the broom behind Sirius. She was feeling rather solicitous about flying on a broom with a bunch of boys. Although, these boys were her best friends.

Sirius said, his voice increasing like a crecendo, "Hold on tight!" Eila wrapped her arms firmly aorund Sirius's waiste the second before the broom lifted into the air. Ecstasy. She was scared out of her wits, but also was amazed. It was rather fun after the first few minutes.

She smiled at the beautiful sight of Hogwarts and Hogsmede below her. Eila unknowingly rested her head on Sirius's shoulder.

"See, I told you it wasn't scary." Said Sirius, noticing this. He felt this odd sort of sensation in the pit of his stomach. It was like adrenaline was just released into his bloodstrem as soon as he felt her touch; but no, that couldn't be, could it? Why he feeling this odd tingling? It was more of an emotion than an actual nerve-to-brain feeling. Whatever it was, it made him feel very happy.

Rana sat with Remus-saying nothing, but watching all of the bright red streaks go across the high-noon sky. Remus looked into Rana's pale grey eyes, but could not hold his stare "_Come on, Remus, how hard is it to look at Rana? She's not that pretty…"_

Remus continued to argue with himself.

"_Yeah, but who am I fooling, she is really pretty." _

"_Pull yourself together man, you cannot let yourself fall into such emotions! You cannot fall in love because of your condition!"_

"_But, Rana helps me! I know she loves me back, but just to make sure…"_

Remus put his book down and started a conversation with Rana, "So… what do you think?"

Rana looked surprised at Remus, "About what?"

"Well, about the team."

"Oh, well, James looks like a pretty good keeper, he's 8-2 right now, and as for Sirius…well I don't think he would make it past tryouts, especially with Eila on the back of his broom."

"_Sirius, already wooing the ladies, are we? Well then it can't hurt to try…" _Remus thought.

"Yeah, I agree." He paused awkwardly, as if he was trying to say something in his head, but couldn't make it come out of his lips. He felt this strange…prickle in the tips of his fingers, as if they were telling him that he should just try to connect with her in some way, some subtle gesture that would sum up all his feelings for her.

"_No, that-that would be completely unacceptable, I'm only 12 for Merlin's sake!"_

"_Come on, Remus, only touch her hand it's not like you guys are going to kiss. Rana's not like that!"_

"_No! I-I can't! She doesn't think of me like that-and that would hurt our relationship."_

"_Better to ask forgiveness than permission. You know you want to."_

"_I know I want to, but will she agree, and you know it, why else would she stay with you for this long!"_

"_I-I have a sweaty palm, She'll think that I'm disgusting!"_

"_No she will not, that night, when you were a wolf, and you almost ate her face off, you could smell that she loved you with all her heart, now just move your hand…"_

Remus moved his hand over Rana's. She blushed slightly, but did not move it. Emotions swirled in her head, she could not think rationally. "Remus, was that a desperate attempt to say that you like me?"

"No, of course not. You know me."

Rana's face changed to a very red color, like she was sun burnt "You know, Remus…I was thinking the same thing."

"What? You were, then you understand…"

"Yes, and I wanted to tell you…I feel the same way. Meet you tonight at the oak tree after potions class, we can talk privately there. There are too many people here. Bye Remus!"

Rana walked off from the bleachers and went up to the Gryffindor common room where Eila was sitting, reading a sixth year Defense Agaisnt the Dark Arts book.

Rana asked, "Where'd you get that?"

"Oh, I stole it from Prefesser Hiltraud's classroom. Seriously, keep him on those mints. I stole this in front of his nose and he didn't even care, he just offered me some chocolate chip cookies."

"Those were spiked too!"

"I never said I ate them."

"Good, because that was spiked with the antidote."

"Why give him the antidote?"

"Then we'de we subject to questioning, and I don't like questioning!"

"_You'de_ be subject to questioning, not me."

"Well…you're asscosated with me so, therefore, you'de be subject to questioning also," said Rana, "Anyway, that's not why I came here…"

"Why would you not be here; this is your house commonroom."

Rana gave Eila a nasty look and continued, "I need help!"

"Yes, you do."

"Shutup! I need help with Remus!"

"Oh…okay, then. I don't think I'm the right person to ask considering no one really likes me and I don't really like anyone…like-like…"

"That's a bunch of owl-droppings!"

"Ask Sirius, he's has tons of girlfriends."

"No, he hasn't."

"Yes, he has."

"Anyway, it's about more personal things that Sirius wouldn't know about…"

"Fine…gosh. You sit here and ask me questions and I'll pretend to listen." Said Eila, looking back into her book.

"Yay! Okay," Rana replied, sitting next to Eila. Rana took a deep breath and continued, "Okay…Remus-told-me-that-he-likes-me-and-I-said-that-I-like-him-too-but-I-don't-really-like-him-but-like-I-said, I-said-I-liked-him-to-him-and-now-I'm-out of-breath-and-don't-know-what-to-do…" Rana took another deep breath, and slowly let it out.

"Then you're screwed! Go ask Molly or something. I really don't know."

"Oh, yeah; and I saw you and Sirius together today. You guys make quite a cute couple."

"We are not a couple!"

"…_Sure_…" said Rana, walking away.

"I'm Serious!"

"He's already told me about it…fifty times."

"Well, he's stupid and he's lying."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"I'm not! I don't lie!"

"Sirius doesn't lie either, so obviously, one of you has to be lying."

Eila shut her book, got up, and marched towards the boys' dormitory, "SIRIUS! GET DOWN HERE!" Sirius came down and plopped himself down on a chair.

He asked, "You rang?"

"Yes, I…_rang_," Eila said, "Did you tell Rana that you have a girlfriend?"

Sirius paused and looked at his fingers, trying to aovid eye contact with Eila. He said, "Err…not from anything I remember—"

"See? He's lying! Look, he's trying to avoid contact with me, aren't you Sirius?"

"I…g-guess. Am I in trouble or something? What's this about?"

"Nothing…" said Eila, "you can go if you want; I just wanted to prove something to Rana. And no, don't ask questions because I won't answer them."

"Alrighty, then." Said Sirius, rushing upstairs to his room as fast as his legs could take him.

Rana laughed triumphantly as she grabbed a flask of a greenish brown potion. "I'm going to Potions class; it starts in fifteen minutes, By the way."

Eila rushed to get her books and her cauldron.

When they got to the potions room, they were already two minutes late, but, thankfully Professor Slughorn didn't notice. Rana slipped the potion flask into Remus's bag, along with a note, telling him where to meet for the next full moon. Eila smiled, in a sort of "what-in-the-world-are-you-doing" way. Rana mouthed, "I'll tell you later" as she started to listen to the professor's lecture.

"So, does anyone know the main ingredient to the hair-raising potion?"

Two students raised their hand quickly. Rana, and the strange, pale-skinned boy from but a week earlier Rana looked across the room to the Slytherin side and cast a dirty look to the boy. The boy just merely raised his hand higher, nearly lifting his bottom off the seat. Rana sat down politely, looked more professional and merely batted her eyelashes at the teacher. The boy stood completely up and screamed out the answer, "IT'S RAT TAILS, PROFESSOR!!!!!" Rana smiled to herself, "He obviously wants to get attention. But as you know, the nails that stick out get hammered down first."

Professor coughed to himself and walked up to Severus, and slapped the boy's hand with his pointer, hard, a loud _crack_ echoed through the classroom. Professor Slughorn turned around and continued with his lecture, he then set the others to work until the class bell rang.

"Don't forget to bottle your potions and place the flasks on my desk for testing. Rana quickly got up, corked her flask and set it on the desk and looked around. Severus had already left. She thanked the professor and went out into the hallway outside of the dungeons, where she saw Severus and along with a fetching white-blonde haired boy talking. She walked up to Severus and tapped him on his left shoulder and jumped to his right. Severus fell for the trick and expected to see someone on his left. Rana acted mortally offended, and when Snape blushed; Rana started bursting into hysterical laughter. She stopped, "Forgive me. Hey, is your hand alright? Is it bleeding? It sure sounded painful. Here, let me fix it for you."

Severus huffed as he turned away, "No, I'm fine, silly girl."

Rana smiled, "I thought as much, anyway, I've never met you, what's your name?" she turned to the blonde-haired boy. The boy frowned, "Why should I tell you, filthy mudblood?"

Rana's friendly smile turned into a scowl, "Am not! My name is Rana Aries Black, Daughter of Orion and Walburga Black, and how dare you insult me?"

Lucius smirked as he bowed fervently, "Forgive me—I just assumed that, since you are in Gryffindor, I thought that you were—My name is Lucius Malfoy, my _pleasure_ to meet you." Lucius replied courtly as he kissed Rana's hand. Rana blushed as she pulled away from Lucius, she giggled girlishly, "Heehee, you're weird…" She turned on her heels as she went to the stone circle to meet Remus.

Eila walked up behind Lucius and tapped his shoulder. She asked, "Who the heck are you and what did you do to my friend?"

"Friend? So…you must be pure-blood as well?"

"…Yeah…Eila Clough…pleased to meet you…" she said blandly.

"…Lucius Malfoy…properly elated to meet you…" he said, delecately kissing her hand even more than he had Rana's.

Eila gave him a monotonous look and shook her hand away. She said, "Yeah…whatever."

"_Honestly_, you could be a little more lady-like." Lucius said, half-annoyed. Eila swatted her hand in ignorance, walking away towards the Gryffindor common room. As she left, she muttered under her breath, "Stupid, fatheaded Slytherins."

XxX 

It was approximately eight 'o Clock when Rana had met Remus by the Whomping Willow. She asked, "Did you take your potion?"

He nodded, looking down at the grass for no aparent reason. He didn't want to embarrass himself further more in front of Rana.

He stood there, still welshing from Rana's eyes. He looked at his watch.

"Any minute now…", he said, "3…2…1…"

The full moon appeared from behind the clouds. Remus could feel the potion working. Being forcibly transformed into a wolf was much less painful that into a _were-_wolf. Being forcibly transformed into a wolf was much less painful that into a _were-wolf._

Rana smiled as she pat the wolf on the head lovingly, "Aww…wook at ze sweet wittle doggy-kins!" She cooed as she knelt down to the wolf's level. Remus licked Rana's face. Rana chuckled as she left for the open passage way back to Hogwarts. Remus whimpered (Or as Jack London describes as ki-yied. - _White Fang_), begging her not to go.

"Remus, I have to go, _stay here_." Rana commanded Remus as she left the room.

Remus once again Ki-yied and nipped the back of Rana's pant leg, keeping her from moving. She was out the doorway with the door slightly. Just then Eila walked by, saw Rana and motioned her to go inside.

"Come on, Rana, curfew bell's already rang. Let's go."

Rana stuttered as she looked at her friend, "I-I can't…This dog won't let me go."

Eila looked behind Rana "Aww…she's cute, what's her name?"

"I think I'm going to call her…Daphne Von Wolfykins."

The wolf snarled angrily at Rana, as if trying to say, "I'm a guy, you twit."

Rana bent over, and blushed slightly, "Uh…I think it's a guy dog. I know what we can call it, Freddie Von Wolfykins!" Rana joked, patting Remus on the head. Rana heard the distant hoot of an owl as she motioned Eila to come inside of the small passage.

"Eila… can you keep a secret? This is a really big secret that only four people know in this entire school."

"Uh—yeah, sure I can, what is it?"

"Freddie von Wolfiekins, he's—he's—actually Remus…transformed because of an infection in his blood. You are the first I have ever confided this in anyone, and if everyone finds out Hogwarts could be closed down forever."

"Er—What kind of infection? Is it contagious? We need to take him to Madame Pomfrey."

"No—no it's not contagious, at this moment, he's infected with lycanthropy, but I gave him a potion of mine own invention that help suppress the side-effects."

"Remus is a were-wolf?" asked Eila in shock. She paused, "…THAT IS _SOO_ COOL…but I won't tell anyone."


	15. Harder Better Faster Stronger

Chapter Fifteen – Harder Better Faster Stronger 

Rana and Eila both paced themselves down the stairs from the Gryffindor Common Room, across to the other side of Hogwarts, and into the Dueling Hall, or more commonly known as, the Gym.

Rana said, panting, "Oh, thank goodness we're not late."

— — — — Sparring Team Set Up — — — — —

Okay, this is going to tell you all about all of the Dueling Team ranks. First, there's the Captain, which is formally known as the Alloigh. Then there is the Vice Captain, which is formally known as the Folleigh. That is the Top Level Players. Now, we go down to the Upper Level players. There are two of these; there's the First Dai'arch and the Second Dai'arch. They are the very skilled and older players. Now we go down a level to Medium Level players. There are also two of these. They are the younger, but skilled players. They are called the Dea'archs. There's First Dea'arch and Second Dea'arch. Then, there are the players who just aren't super skilled, but still deserve to be on the team. They're called the Intere, but no one calls them this; they simply call them the Trolls. There are four Trolls: Trolls A, B, C, and D. The team isn't actually a team-team. They are a team, I mean, but they don't play together. It's a spar. They face the other player at the same level and whose ever team mates have won the most spars, wins the game. They move onto the next round. If there's a tie, then they hold a rematch until someone wins. If it's still a tie, then the Captains duke it out until one of them hits the other with one spell. This person's team will win.

I hope this helped you understand the Sparring Team set-up. Now, back to the story.

— — — — — Sparring Team Set Up — — — — —

Eila nodded in agreement. The two friends walked through the big doors into the confounding gigantic Gym. On the right side of the Gym, was the Gryffindor team, and on the left was, what looked like, the Slytherin team.

Rana laughed cockily at the exercising Slytherins, "These guys are pathetic! Look at their strides! Their style is totally too loose." Rana remarked as she drew her wand from the inside of her cloak.

Eila shuddered nervously at all the waiting (and some hissing in disagreement) Gryffindor duelers. Rana scoffed at all of them and fought back, "You know, you guys are disgraceful! Picking on two little girls!" All of the team ignored her. Rana huffed and crossed her arms, annoyed.

Sheridan turned to Rana and Eila. "Okay guys, I want you to meet the team," he said. He turned to a bulky, blonde-haired 6th year, "This is Flavian Flint, the vice captain." Flavian was pointing at the two girls and laughing stupidly.

Sheridan continued, "This is Oran Gianna. He's first Dai'arch." Oran had short black hair and dark-brown skin. He was kind of short, but not too much.

"And this is…" he said uninterestingly, rolling his eyes, "…my _brother_, Steven." Steven smiled and winked at Rana. Rana rolled her eyes in contempt, whereas Eila tried her best to hide her smile—she had a little crush on him.

Sheridan continued, "These are our trolls: William and Marshall Parrish—they're twins, incase you haven't noticed yet—Maxwell "Max" Dacey, and Ziggy Henleigh." Most of the boys looked pretty old—in their sixth year.

"Okay, pushups! Everyone! Fify!" said Sheridan. He turned to Rana and Eila and continued blandly, "You guys can don't _have _to do them if you."

Rana immediately replied, "Girls can do anything _better_ than boys can!"

Sheridan rolled his eyes once again and said to Rana, "Look, Little Miss Shrimp-Face, I'm not trying to pick a fight or anything. I'm just saying incase you _can't handle_…pushups, then you don't have to do them."

"It sounds like you're saying—" started Rana, but she was interrupted by Eila. Eila placed her hand on Rana's shoulder and said, "Rana…just _chill_. Okay?" Rana huffed and snorted loudly, as if she were a bull getting ready to attack some duffer holding a red cloth.

Rana and Eila both joined in to the push-ups. Rana was doing her push-ups very quickly, as Eila was struggling and going rather slow. Flavian Flint had been laughing at Eila the whole time. This finally started to get on her nerves. She stopped trying to do push-ups, got up, and pointed her want at him. He was now laughing harder and even stupider than before. Eila mumbled something and then yelled, "_Jaalifrio!_" She gave her wand a powerful flick. At first, nothing happened, causing Flavian to laugh _even_ more. Then, a blue gush of water erupted from the end of her wand and landed itself all over Flavian. He was now soaked head to toe with ice-cold water, shivering, and without words. Rana chuckled under her breath as she continued on with the push-ups.

MIDWAY RANDOM SHOW OF THE CHAPTER!!!!!!!!

Hokey. So zis ees ze new application that the hostess's's's's's thought up of when they were bored… just a bit of randomness, you don't have to read, but its quite comical nonetheless. We will be featuring these characters, if you wish o know more about them. And now for a commercial advertisement:

Tired of the lack of reviews to improve your writing skills? Story getting no hits for a long time? Please reply VIA review to enter this contest. Write up your screen name, your featured story and Aluminiumaniac will give personal reviews and advertise your username and story in our own! The winners will be randomly selected (drawn from a hat, in this case) and will be featured in the next Midway chapter contest. And if you have any questions about Harry Potter, that seem unclear to you, we can answer in short, direct questions. On a secondary note, the winner of said contest will also be able to formulate a character and have it be in through the eyes of the past story. So remember! Please write a review typing your username, story you wish to be featured, and a basic character sketch for a chance to star in a chapter of this very Fan fiction!

Now isn't that Exiting! Now, we apologize for the lateness of the coming of this chapter, School for both of us has been really hectic (what with semester exams and all) the writers were talking about Skipping to the fourth year, where romances bloom and the blood-shed rises! We hope to get some readers in these following stories.

And as for the third year… here is what happens in a gist:  
Both Rana and Eila move up a position in dueling,

Professor Hiltraud still continues to try to woo Rana,

Eila still denies that she is in love with Sirius

Eila toughens up a bit, is now not quite a shy child anymore,

Tension in the black house rises, Sirius continues being…well…Sirius.

Remus gets constantly embarrassed by the girls' presence.

So, once again, remember to apply for our contest, and we apologize for the shortness of the chapter Next we will be starting fourth year, so be prepared to defend yourself! Against what, I do not know, but thank you and Good morning (it's like one o'clock as I am typing right now!)

-Aluminiumaniac and Pomeranite


	16. Now it Gets Interesting

_Eila had grown over the past two years. She was, number one, a lot taller. Okay, maybe not a lot, but she was over five feet now. She was about five-foot-three-inches. That's not too bad. Eila had also grown very…ahem…well-rounded, if you know what I mean. Rana, on the other hand…not so much. She was notably taller than Eila; about four inches more. Unfortunately, her Junoesque never grew in. She was, in other words, flat like cardboard. No, I'm exaggerating. She wasn't that flat, just not as curved as Eila. Sirius, Remus, James, Rana, Eila and Peter were now in—you guessed it—fourth year. Fourth year will definitely be fun to write. Loads of humor and…teenagerism. _

"Two weeks! Two whole weeks away from Mom!" Rana jeered as she looked at the notice board for the timetable. "Eila..Look…at…this Dumbledore is taking auditions for Gryffindor dueling squad captain! Looks like Shirley resigned! I so want to do this!" She eeked at hypersonic levels. Eila shrugged her shoulders casually "I'll try out, but I'm hoping to squeeze ancient runes in fifth period."

"You're such a _nerd_, Eila. This is huge!" Rana remarked as she took a quill from the table nearby. A familiar voice echoed from behind the two girls. It was reasonably deep, a sort of voice that you would like to hear sing. Rana turned around, beaming. "Remus! How are you?" She ran up to her friend and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Er-fine, I guess, and thanks." Remus returned warmly. Rana blushed slightly and turned back to Eila, who was looking pale.

"Ummm-did I miss something?"

"Well, um…yeah you didn't know? Me and Remus are…sort of going out now"

"Well, no, this is sort of sudden, you know. Does Sirius know?" Eia replied awkwardly.

"Yeah, ofcourse Sirius knows. Everyone knows."

"Then, how come I don't know?"

"Because you've had your nose in those books all summer!"

Eila furrowed her eyebrows, grabbed her Defense Agaisnt the Dark Arts book, and walked towards Professer Hiltraud's classroom.

"Class isn't until ten minutes from now."

Eila yelled back from the middle of the hallway, "I want to get in some last-minute studying before the quiz!"

"It's only ten points!"

"So? It's still points! And every point counts!" she yelled, disapearing between students. Remus looked over to Rana. He raised his eyebrow and asked, "_What_ the heck is wrong with her?"

"She's never had a boyfriend."

"…_Oh_…" he replied, "I thought her and Sirius…?"  
"Nope, I guess not, but I thought too."

"But they're always like…" he said, making a weird hand gesture, "…together."

"Yeah…I know. And I'm pretty sure that Sirius likes her. And why he's not asking her out…I do not know."

"You know what I'm thinking?" said Remus, blushing a little.

Rana thought for a second and totally ruined his comment by saying, "We should try to get Sirius and Eila together! Only if Eila would stop being a nerd-face bookworm!"

Remus frowned and sighed, "…That's….exactly what I was thinking…"

"Oh, I know what you were thinking. And don't let those werewolfy hormones get the better of you, Sir." Rana replied, walking away smartly. Remus looked quite confused at this point.

XxX 

Rana walked into the Defense Agaisnt the Dark Arts classroom, carrying her khaki school bag. She immediately spotted Eila bombarding Professer Hiltraud with questions, judging upon the irritated look upon his face.

Then she saw Eila put her hands on her hips and scoff loudly. She said, "You just won't admit it, will you? You _know _that you're a—"

"Detention." Professor Hiltraud said calmly, "6:00." He continued grading papers, as if nothing had ever happen at all. Eila looked taken aback. She had just gotten a detention. Her. Eila Clough. Eila folded her arms, huffed, dropped her books (rather rowdily) at her desk, and sat down with an annoyed look upon her face. Rana casually placed herself in a seat next to Eila's. She said, "Wow, did you, Eila Evendora Clough, just get a detention?"

Eila huffed again and replied in a low voice, "…Yes…"

"What did you do?" Rana asked, amused at this highly unlikely fact.

"I was…pestering him—I suppose—about something."

"What?"

"That's he's a vam—" she said, but stopped. She lowered her voice to a whisper and continued, "a vampire."

Rana rolled her eyes. She said, "You _still_ believe in that theory?"

"Yes, I do."

"Why do you want to get Professor Hiltraud fired? I mean he's an awesome teacher and he's…cute…"

"Yes and Yes, but still."

"Still what?"

"I'm a paranoid looser who wants evidence that my theory is true. Then I'll probably shut up about it." Said Eila, resting her chin on her Defence Agaisnt the Dark Arts book. Rana simply sighed and turned away. Many students were now quickly filing into the classrrom. The bell rang a few seconds after everyone had gotten seated.

Rana sat down next to Remus and dug her face into her book. Rana said to Remus, as if plotting something evil, "If I'm right… Benjamin should be rather irritated with Eila, and when he does, he'll want a stick of gum to soothe his nerves, and I've already made sure to switch to the draught of sleep-laden package on his desk, now if Eila keeps bothering him—"

She was interrupted by an even more inquisitive Eila, "Professor Hiltraud, What's your middle name?"

Benjamin raised his eyebrow, glared at Eila and and went on with his lecture, "So, anyways, the banshee is a particularly nasty…"

Eila blurted out again, "—No seriously! What is your middle name?"

"…in order to defend you may use _Incendio or Petrificus To_—"

"PROFESSOR HILTRAUD!!! WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME?!?" Eila screamed, nearly jumping out of her seat.

Rana whispered to herself, "Bingo. Good job, Eila. This is all working according to plan, now just a little more…"

Benjamin sighed loudly, and replied, very annoyed, "Gregory. Benjamin Gregory Hiltraud." He gritted his teeth angrily and picked up a piece of chalk. He started to write something onto the chalkboard, when Eila interupted again, causing him to nearly snap the chalk in half.

"Where do you get your shoes?"

Benjamin shut his eyes in frustration and said quietly, "Hot Topic."

"Do you have convorses?"

"…Yes…"

"Do you have a silver sharpie?"

"Why will you not be—"

"Do you have a sparkly gold sharpie?" Eila asked. Rana was now laughing maniacally in her seat.

"NO, I DO NOT HAVE A—"

Eila continued, "Because if you do, that means you're emo because emo kids have emo hair, like you, and shop at Hot Topic, and have convorses, and wear eyeliner—don't think I haven't caught you—and—"

"…SHUT…UP!!" he yelled, "You were never this annoying last year."

"…and have razor-cuts all over their arm!"

"I-am-not-emo! And I'm not a kid either! Now will you be quiet before I-snap-your-wand-in-half-and-make-you EAT IT!" Professor Hiltraud blustered extremely vexed. Rana was now rolling on the floor and dying from laughter.

Professor Hiltraud took a deep breath and said calmy with hint of frustration in voice, "Okay…are you through?"

Eila smiled and nodded.

"Okay, now for homework…you know what? Screw the homework, I don't want to grade the homwork. Now all of you, back to your dormitories, shoo, leave, NOW!" he said, now mummbling under his breath, "What I need right now is a hot bubble-bath."

Rana tapped him on the shoulder and said, "You know, gum will help."

He gave Rana a cold glare that would give anyone the shivers right down to the bone, but Rana, quite content with herself, was smirking away happily. She continued, "Gum always helps me when I'm stressed."

He stared her down like a hawk and said, "You're up to something."

"Why would I want an angry teacher assign me a lot of homework?"

"Why would an angry teacher want to grade homework?"

"Well…some teachers have this sick love for giving students homework."

"What's in the gum?"

"Uhh…sugar glucosamine…high fructose—"

"Seriously, what's in the gum?'

"…flavoring, Red dye 3, yellow dye 6—"

"Why don't _you_ have a piece?"

"Oh, I don't like that brand."

"I hate kids," he said, "What's in it, poison? Concentrated Extract of Dragon Pox? You know, the usual? Oh, let me guess, Draught of Sleep?"

"Do you want me to try it?"

"Because it's sleeping potion, I couldn't get enough of that."

Rana cursed under her breath and said, "I really need to get more imaginative."

Later that day…

It was appoxamately 6:30 in Professor Hiltraud's classroom. Eila was sitting on a desk in the front row, tapping her fingers on the table in bordem.

She asked nonchalantly, "Could you give me something to do; I'm bored."

"No, you can sit there and contemplate suicide while I fail you on this test." He said. He dipped his quill in grading ink and looked down at the paper. Professor Hiltraud read very loudly as he wrote, "That's wrong. Nope, wrong. That's wrong too. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong…"

Eila's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of her head. She said, "No! Don't fail me! Anything but that!"

"How about if I kill you?"

"JUST DON'T FAIL ME!" yelled Eila. She jumped out of her seat and recited, "GIVE ME 'OUTSTANDING,' OR GIVE ME DEATH, PROFESSOR HILTRAUD!"

He put down his quill and continued, "No, I was kidding. You got a perfect score. Good Job. Now you can do all of my various chores around Hogwarts: Clean the Boys' Bathroom, give Dumbledore a spongebath—he really does get filthy this time of year—wash Severous's hair, measure Proffessor Flitwick, tell Slughorn to excersise, clean the owl droppings out of the owlry, and…mop Great Hall…twice."

Eila looked at him as if he had said some sort of disgusting swear word. The only word she could utter was, "_What?_"

"No, I'm kidding…again. You _actually _have to listen to me talk…"

"Why?"

"Because my childhood was that bad."

"…_fine_…"

"I was born on December 7, 1926 in Copenhagen, Denmark—"

"1926? It's 1979! That makes you…fifty-three years-old! And you don't look a day over twenty!"

"…Yes…that's about when I died."

Eila pondered for a second and said, "I was right!"

"Yes, you're a very smart lass, now _shutup,_" He said, "My father was Protestant—he was a muggle, and my mother was Jewish—she was a witch. I had two sisters, Wilburga and Liliyona They were…twins. I know not weather they are alive nor have I seen them for a while now. We were in hiding in 1943 when the Nazis stormed the house—"

"Nazis?" she asked, looking saddened, "You…grew up during the Holocaust?"

"…Yes…"

"That's…horrible."

Benjamin nodded and continued, "Anyway. My father tried to fight the soldiers off, but they…outnumbered him and dragged him away. I still remember the terrified screams of those who had been caught. They were all begging, begging for their lives. The soldiers kept on asking for my Mother. The last thing I remebered from that night was the sharp pain of the butt of a rifle to my head. They thought I was dead, so they left me there. I…was just unconscious. After three days, I came out of my lonely hiding place to account of the diaster that had happened to my life and many others that dreadful night."

Eila was now looking down at the floor, her eyes gleaming with tears of sorrow. She couldn't speak.

"…That day I was walking through the ruined streets of Copenhagen. There were soldiers everywhere. I knew they had seen the yellow star on my jacket. I ripped it off and hid in a dark alleyway where this…this man was standing there. I didn't know who he was, so I ignored him. Then he asked me if I was Jewish. I still didn't reply. He was very strange, I tell you. He was…just standing their and sort of staring at my neck. I understand how Rana thinks it's creepy, because it is. He was—"

"The vampire that bit you." Said Eila.

"Yes…he was. After a few minutes, it was like my memory just…went blank. I woke up with this endless stinging on the side of my neck and the man was gone," he said, "I hadn't, ofcourse, turned into a vampire yet. I suppose I screamed and the soldiers had found me and they…dragged me off just like they did my father. They took me to this…this…train. It was _very_ small. There were about ninety other people in it. I knew then that they were taking me to a…a-a—"

"Taking you to a…c-concentration camp?"

Benjamin nodded again. He looked very miserable at this point. If you hadn't been sure, it looked as if he was on the verge of tears. He sniffed loudly and continued, his voice broken and soft now, "Once we stopped, there were these other Jewish men there. They were helping everyone off of the trains. As I was being helped off, one of the men…they told me…I still remember exactly what he said, 'When they ask, tell them you're a shoe-maker.' I didn't understand him at first, but I knew he was trying to help. The Na.…The soldiers seperated the men into one line, and the women and children into another. They also took some of the elderly that couldn't walk, they took them to the…the…." Said Benjamin, but he couldn't utter the words. He was now crying helplessly.

Eila was also stifling back the urge to cry at his greif-stricken story. Eila whispered, finishing his sentence, "Gas chamber."

He wiped his eyes and continued, "They asked all of the men…if they had any….special talent. A good job. I reluctantly raised my hand and told him that I was a shoe-maker. He told me to step forward along with a few other men and woman. And…they told everyone else, except for the people who had stepped forward, that they were to take sh-showers to…c-c-c-clean themselves. And…I never saw them again. Th-then they took the remaining people t-to these small, _very small_, cabins. I was put into one where there was another boy, about my age. I knew we were suppose to…make shoes…for the soldiers. I…ofcourse, didn't know how, but…"

"Did you already learn magic?"

"I had…I had just gotten out of school. But you know, no magic infront of muggles, so I couldn't fight off the soldiers without getting c-caught and thrown in Azkaban."

Eila nodded, understandingly.

"It was horrible there. They hardly fed any of the muggles. And I was no good at house-hold charms, so I couldn't make food. The most I could do with magic was to make the shoes. And we had to sleep in these small beds. They were so compact, it was hard to breath. There, I met this girl. She was very nice to me. I was s-so cheerless and bitter. I hadn't been happy for…for such a long time. I forgot that I could do magic and escape. The girl, her name was…Anika Lovette. She…had comforted me, and I did so to her as well. For as long as I was alive, she was there for me. Eventually I had…gotten very ill. You know, malnutrition. When I died, I sw-swear they were going to burn me, but…I was alive. No…I was undead. I had become a vampire then. I had finally escaped, realizing this. I moved to London and there I met Dumbledore, and he said that he would let me stay at the castle. And this leads me here. I never saw Anika again. Ever."

"You…you loved her?"

"Oh, I loved her. And I never knew what happen to…nevermind. I want to die. I want to be with my family. I want to be with her. With all of my loved ones. I cannot feel anything but grief and anger. And I want…you to give this note to Dumbledore. He'll understand."

Eila was crying again. She knew what he was going to do. She said, between sobs, "P-Proffessor…y-you're g-g-going to…?"

"Yes, I am. I should have done it a long time ago. _A long time ago_. I hope your life is never as lonely as mine."

Eila slowly walked up to Benjamin and embrace him in a hug. She felt so bad for him. She said, "I'm sorry for being so…annoying."

"Oh, it's okay. Well…I bid you farewell, Eila. I'll see you again, I hope. In the _afterlife?_"

Eila smiled a little and nodded, taking the note. She said, "In the afterlife, Professor." And walked out. Eila tore toward Professor Dumbledore's office as fast as she could, without crying. She reached the gargoyle, which held password to enter.

"Do you know the password?" asked the gargoyle.

"No, I don't know the password. Now open the door. I need to see Professor Dumbledore!"

"But, do you know the password?"

"NO! NOW OPEN THE STUPID DOOR, THIS IS URGENT!"

"But, do you know the—"

"IF YOU DON'T OPEN THE DOOR, I'M GOING TO SHOVE RANCID ACID POPS DOWN YOUR…"The door clicked and started to open. She shrugged and walked in.

She quickly gave the note to Dumbledore. Dumbledore opened the note and read it. Dumbledore nodded and said, "Thank you. You may go." He sat down at his desk, picked up a quill, dipped it in black ink, and started to write various letters. Eila looked around the office, for no apparent reason, turned around, and ran out the door. She ran, full throttle to the Gryffindor commonroom where Sirius amd Rana were both pacing, probably waiting for Eila to get back.

Eila immediately ran into Sirius's arms and started crying gravely. Sirius, shocked by this, plainly patted her back comfortingly. Rana asked, quite loudly, "What's wrong? WHAT HAPPEN? WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU?!?!?"

"P-p-p-p-professor…H-h-hil…Hiltraud….is g-g-g-g-going to k-k-k-k..." Eila stuttered madly.

"KILL WHO?"

"H-himself."

"WHAT?" Sirius and Rana both said in unison. Eila calmed down a bit and told them the story that Professor Hiltraud had told her.

Rana looked at Eila, dazed and confused, as if her spirit had gone somewhere else. Her brain went numb. "Eila-we-we…need to make sure Professor Benji doesn't kill himself. Death is not the only way, Eila!" She grabbed Eila's arm, but Eila didn't move.

She said, "He…he has to, Rana. He's too lonely. Everyone he ever loved is dead! DEAD, RANA! DEAD!"

Rana shook her head and ran to the door, but it was too late. A distant gunshot erupted from the dark corridor. Rana kneeled down in anguish, clasping her stomach, screaming a whole-hearted scream of agony and grief from her diaphragm.

"Professor…y-you-you can't have—COWARD!!!!! He had to have cowered away from his emotions! The answer to life is not death! No, he cant be…he can't be dead!"

Eila broke down with Rana too, until Professor McGonogal heard their cries and sought to comfort them.


	17. The Legacy of Benjamin Hiltraud

**Chapter Seventeen - The Legacy of Benjamin Hiltraud**

The Great Hall was draped in black tapestries. It was dreary and mournful that day. The entire school was sitting on their house tables, looking quite confused; they didn't know what had happened. Dumbledore slowly walked up to his podium and started, "I am sure you are all wondering what has happened and why the Great Hall is adorned in black."

There was murmuring among t he students.

Dumbledore continued, "A most sorrowfull thing has happened in the great halls of Hogwarts. You're Denfese Agaisnt the Dark Arts teacher has commited suicide."

There was gasping and shock among the students now.

"He was a very lonely person, and he had been so for a very long time. He has no known family and his love died a long time ago. I dare say that he has found peace now. We should all remember him in our hearts as the great teacher he was."

There was more shock and stirring throughout the hall. Rana and Eila were both silently crying and comforting eachother.

They both had snuck outside to where the casket was about to be burried. It was outside the clock tower, in the middle of the hill that would become the Stone Circle.

Rana walked up to the casket and opened it. She gasped and tried to stifle back tears. Eila said, "Look, Rana. He's…he's smiling. That means he died…happy."

"You're so simple, Eila. The smile of the dead does not mean that they are happy."

"I just know he's happy now. He's with his…his family and his love. Atleast…I hope he is." She said, stroking his soft hair.

Rana nodded and bit her thumb very hard, causing it to bleed. She picked up Benjamin's cold hand and made a cross-mark on it. She smiled and said, "May you rest in peace."

Eila said, softly, "He always was and will be my favorite teacher. I'm going to miss him. Rana, look. His fangs are gone too. Isn't that great? He's not cursed anymore."

"Well, duh! He's dead, moron."

"Yes, but still. Oh, Rana; I'm really _really really_ going to miss him. He really was a good person. On the inside." Said Eila, running her hand across his cheek. A tear drop of hers fell into the casket and onto Benjamin's corpse.

"I know." She said as she slowly shut the casket. She and Eila turned around to leave.

"AHH!" Eila screamed as she saw Dumbledore standing right behind them, "Oh…hello, Professor."

He said, "That was a very nice thing you did for him. You both showed him the friendship and loyalty that he hasn't had for over fifty years."

Rana bowed her head in shame, "I-I feel so- ungrateful. All I have ever done to him was out of pure spite. He deserved more that what I did to him."

She stifled back her tears and continued, "I wish the last time I saw him, I would have told him that-that…I wanted to have peace with him but now…but now he's dead and his ears will no longer receive my words. How sickeningly lonely death is."

"Rana, he can still hear us. He's up there," Eila said, pointing up to the sky, "He heard you."

Rana looked down at her feet.

"It wasn't your fault. I wouldn't want to live for eternity without Sir—anyone I loved either." Said Eila coughing a little between her change of words.

Rana, noticing this, raised her eyebrow and said, "Yeah…well, I guess you're right."

"Come on, let's go back to the common room." Eila said, walking back through the clocktower enterence.

XxX

It had been a two weeks after Benjamin's death. Eila had been thinking about the story that he had told her before he had died. She was sitting by the windowsill. _His sisters, they were twins. They're names were Liliyona and…Wilburga. Wilburga Black._ Eila immediately jumped out of her seat and yelled, "RANA! RANA! YOU'RE NOT PURE-BLOOD! ISN'T THAT GREAT?!?!?"

Rana paused, looked confused, and asked, "_Whah?_"

"Wilburga was one of Benji's sisters! Your Mum, Wilburga! He was your uncle! Benji was your uncle!"

"…Benji was…BENJI WAS MY UNCLE! Oh my gosh! I can't believe…no wonder my Mum's family tree isn't described—SIRIUS! WE'RE HALF-BLOOD, ISN'T THAT _AWESOME_?!?!?" Sirius furrowed his eyebrows and made a strange face. He replied, "Uhh…sure?"

Later that day, Rana walked up to Eila and asked, "You know, back there by the clocktower, when you said 'loved ones,' you were about to say Sirius, weren't you?"

"I…No!" lied Eila.

"Yes, you were! You said, 'Sir—anyone I loved…' That means you're in love with Sirius!"

"I am not! That…would be weird, he's my best mate."

"You mean your…_boo_."

"NO! I DON'T MEAN—ugh!" said Eila, annoyed. She scoffed and walked off as Rana laughed in her seat.

----------------------X--------x--------X--------x--------X--------x--------X----------------------

I know this was a short chapter, but the next one probably will come out sooner or may be already be posted. Stay tuned for more.

-Pomegranite

-Aluminiumaniac


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